Game of Homes: How community infrastructure makes you healthier (and happier!)
The team at COURAGE asked Alexis Wise about civic and community infrastructure and how it relates to healthy living. Here, Alexis expands on how better and inclusive community planning benefits everyone.
You cross the street. It's dusk. You’re heading to the bank. On the way, you pass by the homecare house where your wife is. She recently moved there as they provide live-in caregivers. Her dementia needed more support than you were able to provide. As you pass by the home, you can see movement through the open window. This time, though, there’s something a little different. Curious, you peer in and see a humanoid robot sitting at the table speaking to your wife. The robot calls her "grandma." Unfazed, you realize it’s one of her caregivers. You've gotten used to the robot and are happy to see your wife at ease. It seems to make her glad to have a constant companion.
In Japan, this scenario is common. Many Japanese communities have consciously decided to reconstruct their neighbourhoods into more age-friendly places. Given the country’s aging population, this is no surprise. Akita is one such community undergoing an age-friendly transformation. Akita has been inspired by the World Health Organization's Age-Friendly Cities Framework to remodel itself into a community built for better aging. But an age-friendly future is more than just focusing on older adults.
In Akita, community partners are working together to serve people better. For example, the local bank struck an age-friendly committee and learned that older adults wished to have shelves near the ATMs.[1] But these shelves help a range of customers — those who carry bags or purses, someone with a baby in their arms, and customers with different abilities.
Yukarigoaka, Japan, is intentionally designed to serve all generations well. In an effort to promote intergenerational communities, the city looked to attract younger residents and families with children.[2] For example, every home is within a 10-minute walk from a train station that is located near amenities like health clinics and daycare. For more convenience, bus services allow residents to stop where they wish.
Age-friendly strategies can make the lives of older adults easier, healthier, and happier. What changes can we make to our homes and communities so they are more inclusive for everyone?
A positive, age-friendly future is within our reach right now. We can take immediate steps to build this better future today. Focused improvements and interventions can go a long way, and there is plenty of evidence, guidance, and creative ideas to draw from.
Every sector has a role to play. In particular, the real estate sector — including developers, planners, and architects — plays a critical role in building more age-friendly communities and homes.
The National Housing Strategy Solutions Labs at the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation are undertaking initiatives that are focused on developing more age-friendly housing. For example, the Enabling Citizen-Led Housing Forum is working to develop new approaches to the design and development of housing that better include older adults in the design process. One of the recommendations is to create a national certification that signals that a house or apartment unit is well-suited to aging at home and has been designed in consultation with older adults.
European Union member states, such as France and the Netherlands, are testing a similar type of certification that evaluates projects on six criteria. They are:
the physical design of the space,
the affordability of the housing and services available,
resident privacy,
dignity,
opportunities for social engagement,
outdoor and neighbourhood access, and
a management approach that involves older adults.[3]
These six areas make up a holistic evaluative tool to determine whether the space is worthy of certification.
Another Solutions Labs initiative, called Building with Mission, is focused on helping healthcare delivery organizations across Canada convert their underutilized real estate into new types of housing for lower- and middle-income older adults in their communities. They are working to publish a “periodic table of housing models for older adults,” so stay tuned.
Toronto-based architectural and design firm B.P. Quadrangle recently published a report on person-focused community design. Reimagining Age-Friendly Living examines the elements of high-quality age-friendly homes, urban intensification strategies, and the creation of multigenerational living and outlines innovative ways to build new, multigenerational, and age-friendly communities.[4]
A first step towards creating a more age-friendly and inclusive community could be to set up a council or advisory committee where older adults could bring forward community challenges and obstacles. Like our example of the seniors' committee at the Japanese bank, we can empower people to suggest improvements to help build a better age-friendly future at home and in their communities.
Alexis Wise is the Housing for Health Fellow with SE Health’s Futures Team, where she works at the intersection of health, place, and technology and applies her passion for change to drive improved health and well-being for individuals and communities. Most recently, Alexis was the Director of Health for Sidewalk Labs (an Alphabet company), where she brought a health lens to community and city building.