Penticton is a city based on generating tourism dollars and, to a large degree, sustaining growth through the resulting retirement dollars.
Taking into account the older population, the Age Friendly Action Plan Update given to Penticton council Tuesday at City Hall was of interest to many.
Considering the next delegation’s focus was Aging Well Penticton, the Committee of the Whole portion of Tuesday’s gathering held a great deal of importance to the older demographic in the community.
In 2019, Penticton council directed staff to apply for grants from UBCM to pursue plan development. At that point, city staff also began its community engagement process.
“Some of the rationale for why council action plan work to take place at that time was Penticton has a high percentage of older adults, it has lots of great groups, organizations and services providing outstanding services to older adults and seniors, and wanted to figure out how we can better coordinate and enhance the services being provided for the community,” said Social Development manager Adam Goodwin. “And at that time, council had interest in pursuing officially becoming an age-friendly community and receiving that designation.”
The action plan provided information through the www.shapeyourcitypenticton.ca website, which had over 1,000 visits.
The group also utilized a unique strategy to include those residents who may not be as computer friendly as others.
“We also did what we call a Photovoice Project. We had five older adults who were trained to use disposable cameras. We then asked them about the photos they took and what age friendly means to them, and how the community is age friendly,” explained consultant Lesley Dyck. ”You’ll see that the themes that emerged were slightly different. In order to really understand the experience of people in the community, you need to be talking to people directly and hearing their stories.
“That’s what our Photovoice Project really tried to do.”
Moving forward, the action plan group was able to identify some areas for improvement.
“There is the need for more inclusive and inter-generational events, for targeted support for vulnerable older adults, and better all-round engagement of older adults related to their experience of social supports,” added consultant Heather Cooke.
As for the parameters involved in becoming an age-friendly community...
“An age-friendly community is one that’s inclusive, equitable, and it really is about meeting the needs and providing good quality of life for all within our community,” added Dyck.
During council discussion, Katie Robinson wondered aloud why Penticton doesn’t already have this unique designation.
“It’s surprising that we don’t already have that age friendly designation here in Penticton, seeing as we’ve been ahead of the curve for years and years,” said Robinson. “Especially with the Penticton Drop-In Centre. I certainly hope the group will include them in the workshops because a high percentage of our senior population comes and goes out of the centre, and they’re very much looking forward to working with you on this.”
Once it has more information in place, the group anticipates bringing the full action plan to council during the May 4 meeting.
“After that, we anticipate participating in BC Seniors Week the first week of June,” summarized Goodwin. “And, once we make progress within the action plan, the city would then be eligible to apply for age-friendly designation.”
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