Age Friendly Moose Jaw, a volunteer-run division of the provincial organization, has completed its first edition of a resource guide for Moose Jaw seniors who want to stay in their own homes as long as possible.
“Seniors’ Week is coming up, Oct. 1 to 7, and we’ve actually been working on a resource guide that will be distributed throughout the community,” explained Leanne Schutte, project co-ordinator for Age Friendly Moose Jaw.
“This guide has all the information we could find that would be beneficial to seniors who are hoping to age well in their own homes.”
Age-Friendly Moose Jaw is an all-volunteer group with the purpose of helping people over age 55 stay active and independent as they age in place. It is part of and funded by the Saskatchewan Seniors’ Mechanism.
Chrstine Boyczuk, committee chair for Age Friendly Moose Jaw, has explained in previous interviews that the organization supports current health-care trends toward facilitating as much independence as possible. The pandemic particularly highlighted the fact that “warehousing people” in long-term care homes is not as safe as Canadians might hope.
Some of the topics and resources covered in Age Friendly Moose Jaw Resource Guide include information on yard care, appliance repair services, snow removal, and transportation options for people who struggle with their mobility.
The guide also lists organizations in Moose Jaw that run programs for, or are focused on seniors. These include businesses, groups, and non-profits that have social groups for seniors, exercise opportunities especially designed for seniors, mental health supports, or useful health products and aging-in-place devices.
“One other very important piece of information we have in there is about safety and crime prevention,” Schutte noted. “So, all the information about elder abuse, the types of elder abuse, things to watch out for, where to access support. There are a lot of different emergency numbers, medication supports, and personal safety tips for the home.”
Schutte said the resource guide also has information for people who are planning to age well at home. They might not be there yet, but they are looking to the future and considering things like handrails, doors that are wheelchair accessible — both wide enough and with a ramp — and accessible bathrooms and showers, and so on.
The resource guide will be available at many locations throughout the City of Moose Jaw, including the Public Library, long-term care homes, Timothy Eaton’s, the Chamber of Commerce — anywhere they could be useful, Schutte said.
“We are also super excited to announce that during Seniors’ Week, we’re opening up a seniors’ resource drop-in centre at Timothy Eatons. I’m going to be setting up there on Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 3). So, we’ll be there on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the afternoon, and Fridays in the morning, and that will be our opening trial times.
“Once we have a couple of weeks under our belt, those hours might change,” Schutte said. “It is also our intention to recruit more volunteers to help us run that drop-in centre.”
Age Friendly Moose Jaw also continues to collect information from the community in the form of a survey, available online at https://tinyurl.com/MJ-AgeFriendlySurvey, or in paper form from the Moose Jaw Public Library. It takes 15 to 20 minutes to fill out.
The survey will help Age Friendly Moose Jaw volunteers determine their next steps as they continue to support folks over 55.
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