March
12, 2003
The
Honourable Stan Woloshyn
Minister of Seniors
425 Legislature Building
Edmonton, AB T5K 2B6
Re:
Current and Future Roles and Needs of Seniors' Centres in Alberta
Dear
Minister Woloshyn:
We
were pleased to learn that the Seniors Advisory Council for Alberta
and the Alberta Council on Aging have completed a study of Senior
Centres in Alberta with the purpose of determining the role and
future sustainability of Senior Centres.
As
a result of funding provided by the federal New Horizons program,
many Senior Centres have been established in both rural and urban
areas of the province. There are Senior Centres in surprisingly
small towns, and they are liberally distributed across rural Alberta.
They are ideally situated to be a focal point in the community
for programs for older people, such as health promotion/prevention,
outreach and other community service programs as mentioned in
your report.
Many
centres are operated strictly by volunteers who are not likely
to have the time, and may not have the expertise to establish
a program to review the needs and expectations of present and/or
future members, or to develop a community network. Community organization
requires considerable skill, and is not something that can be
developed immediately, since each organization must come to understand
the benefits available to them from such cooperation, and not
feel threatened by another organization.
Since
the Alberta Council on Aging has a large membership of seniors
located throughout the province, perhaps they might take on the
role of assisting and encouraging Senior Centres to expand their
programming to meet the needs of "new" seniors, and
to become more active participants in their community. The Alberta
Council on Aging would likely need some financial support to hire
a person trained in community organization in order to achieve
this goal.
The
Alberta Association on Gerontology strongly supports your suggestion
that Family and Community Support Services be involved in helping
Senior Centres to review and develop relevant programs. Developing
outreach programs to help identify the needs of isolated seniors
has been attempted by many Senior Centres but often they are unable
to continue such services because of lack of funding and lack
of training for volunteers who have an interest in participating
in this type of program.
While
most Senior Centres are independent and raise their own funding,
resources are scarce and most are probably therefore unable to
establish any of the extra programs needed to provide the vital
functions for older people mentioned in your report. Exploring
options aimed at finding sources of funding for maintaining, sustaining
and expanding the Senior Centre in the community is critical.
We
note that you mention that Senior Centres might be used by a broader
spectrum of individuals. We would not want to see changes that
would dilute Senior Centres' focus on older people. These centres
provide important opportunities for older people to experience
social interaction and to use their skills or develop new ones.
Older people continue to need these types of experiences.
We
would also like to mention the small ethnic Senior Centres which
abound particularly in some of the larger communities of Alberta.
These centres are valuable in providing a place where people can
congregate with others who speak their own language, and who come
from a culture with which they can identify. These ethnic centres
also serve as a place where immigrant seniors can gain information
about services, as well as about the culture in which they are
now living. This is a very important function and should not be
overlooked.
Senior
Centres can be a valuable resource as you indicated in your report.
We agree that efforts must be made to assist them both financially
and with the operation of the centres if they are to reach their
true potential to benefit the citizens of Alberta.
We
support the recommendations of the study group regarding the role
of the Government of Alberta. Senior Centres can benefit from
assistance of the province in obtaining reliable ongoing funding
for projects, initiatives, facility maintenance and centre administration.
We realize that a partnership between government, associations
and the communities themselves is essential to the full implementation
of these benefits.
Sincerely,
Corinne
Schalm, President
Alberta Association on Gerontology
cc:
Seniors Advisory Council on Aging
Alberta Council on Aging
