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. 

Update about the seniors' hub building exploration:
On May 17, 2022, Council directed administration to investigate non-capital-intensive alternatives and provide a report for Council’s consideration. The report is due in the first quarter of 2023. Specific dates will be shared, once confirmed. View the media release for more information.

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.  

Strathcona County proud to announce its new partner to enhance seniors' services

Strathcona County recently selected Westend Seniors Activity Centre as the County's new partner in providing improved services to older adults. WE seniors will:

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

Westend Seniors Activity Centre's outlined detailed plans for assessing and meeting the needs of the County's seniors. The non-profit will start by meeting with the local Seniors Advisory Committee and the Social Framework Leadership table and plans to collaborate with the County's seniors’ clubs. 

“Our goal is to establish mutual understanding and trust, and our first step will be listening to and understanding the unique needs of Strathcona County’s seniors,” says Westend Seniors Activity Centre's Executive Director Haidong Liang, who holds a PhD specializing in recreation and gerontology. 

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.  View the media release to learn more.

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)

michelle.jehn@strathcona.ca