Seniors services and supports project

Strathcona County is enhancing supports and services for older adults in the community. 

In January 2021, seniors’ groups in the community brought forward their desire for a seniors’ hub in Strathcona County.  Strathcona County launched the Seniors Supports and Services Project in April 2021, as part of its next steps to ensuring seniors are supported in our community. 

Overview

Over the past year, Strathcona County conducted research and engaged with the community to identify: 

• opportunities and services that currently exist for seniors 
• opportunities for further supports

The needs of older adults in Strathcona County are as diverse as the population itself. 

There is a wide-range of factors that impact how, where and if an older adult can access services, such as: 

• vast age range (spread of over 30 years in the category of seniors aged 65+) 
• income level  
• physical ability  
• cultural background 
• rural and urban locations  
• digital literacy skills

The Project findings highlight three priority actions to best support older adults in the community: 

• supporting dedicated senior spaces 
• establishing non-profit service leadership in the County 
• enhancing seniors’ supports and services across the County

Strathcona County has a strong social sector, yet it is incomplete. As our community continues to grow and change, so have community needs. There is a clear need for a robust organization with a broad mandate to advocate, coordinate, support, and provide programming and socialization opportunities for seniors on a regular basis.  

Strathcona County is looking to work with non-profit organizations to enhance service delivery, support collaborative solutions and leverage community partners’ areas of expertise.  

Open now: The invitation to apply provides an opportunity for eligible non-profit, senior-serving organizations to submit a proposal to: 

• provide a hub of services for older adults, including opportunities to connect, engage, and access the information, supports, and programming.  
• align services with community need and the strategic objectives of the County. 

 Strathcona County is committing $200,000 each year, for the next three years, beginning in 2022, to support the seeding and operations of the successful non-profit, senior serving organization applicant.  

After the first 12-months of operations, an evaluation and report on the project will be presented to Strathcona County Council.  

Invitation to apply (2.1 MB) -  The application deadline is April 29, 2022. 

To gain a better understanding of the context and current perspectives, values, and needs for seniors’ supports and services in the community, Strathcona County gathered information from multiple sources. This includes, a statistical profile of seniors in Strathcona County, analysis of previous Strathcona County engagement results, jurisdictional scans, and Project surveys and focus groups. The following reports provide the information and results of that work.

• Seniors Supports and Services Final Report (1.5 MB)
• Seniors Supports and Services Needs Assessment Report (943.4 KB)
• What We Heard – Full Survey Report (1.1 MB)
• What We Heard – Summary of Survey Report (210.9 KB)
• What We Heard – Stakeholder Conversation Full Report (296.6 KB)
• What We Heard – Stakeholder Conversation Summary Report (216.8 KB)

nicole.wilke@strathcona.ca