4. Conclusion

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Nancy Garrard, Director of Health Canada's Division of Aging and Seniors, brought Part I of the workshop to a conclusion by thanking all participants for their hard work. She reminded all participants that they will be sent a report of the process and outcomes of the Workshop on Aging and Health Practices and that self-identified potential partners will be contacted by telephone.

Summary of Strategies for Healthy Aging

The strategies for action developed by the small groups are summarized below, under the following key strategic directions:

• Public Awareness and Education
• Public Policy and Legislation
• Community Action
• Professional Information and Education
• Knowledge Development

4.1 Public Awareness and Education

Injury Prevention

• Media Awareness Campaign – use of high-profile spokesperson (a senior) and positive messages

Nutrition

• Develop and disseminate clear, non-conflicting messages for seniors re: weight, nutrient needs, healthy food choices and interplay with physical activity

Smoking Cessation

• Targeted media campaigns on quitting for seniors (seniors as role models; stress benefits)
• Include messages about smoking in other campaigns (e.g. safety and injury prevention, heart disease)

Physical Activity

• Media Awareness Campaign – use of high-profile spokesperson (a senior) and positive messages
• Bring back ParticipACTION and launch awareness campaign directed to seniors (use senior role models)
• Ensure consistent use of terminology (Use Physical Activity Guide as templates)

Overall

• Develop and disseminate messages that debunk and reverse ageism and help change negative attitudes about seniors and barriers to change
• Confront complacency and denial
• Tailor strategies for different settings, cohorts and cultures
• Involve seniors at all levels of development and implementation

4.2 Public Policy and Legislation

Injury Prevention

• Submission to Romanow Commission
• Creation of "seniorfriendly" products through markettesting group
• Revise building code standards to make senior friendly
• Develop and implement a national strategy for injury prevention and seniors

Nutrition

• Develop and implement standards for Meals on Wheels
• Work with food industry re: portions, packaging and balance/nutrient needs for seniors
• Develop dietary intake recommendations and a focus on seniors in Canada's Food Guide, including cultural differences
• Improve collaboration between government and community – bridge information gaps and eliminate duplication

Smoking Cessation

• Enact smoke-free policies in public places that seniors frequent
• Include warnings on medications if there is an interaction with tobacco

Physical Activity

• Change current policies that ban pets in long-term care facilities
• Offer tax rebates and insurance discounts and seniors discounts for physical activity and physical activity products
• Create safe conditions for physical activity (e.g. ice-free sidewalks)

Overall

• Involve seniors
• Encourage stable funding for health promotion strategies (affecting all ages). Increase funding for community-based population health initiatives in physical activity and other areas
• Assign a percentage of pharmaceutical profits to seniors programs
• Confront complacency and denial
• Develop national blueprint on healthy aging
• Go big – go culturally appropriate or go home!
• Minister of State for seniors, Cabinet representation
• Tailor strategies for different settings

4.3 Community Action

Injury Prevention

• Create a network of organizations dealing with seniors and injury prevention
• Advocacy for changes in building codes
• Support community programs

Nutrition

• Improve access to food for isolated seniors (e.g. provide transportation and social occasions for eating and fellowship)
• Work with restaurants and grocery stores re: balance, portions, packaging for seniors
• Improve access to quality foods and assistance with eating in institutions

Smoking Cessation

• Involve seniors organizations in efforts to promote cessation, especially in stress reduction programs
• Provide cessation programs for seniors
• Target seniors in antismoking campaigns and increase the visibility of smoking concerns and seniors

Physical Activity

• Expand ALCOA (Active Living Coalition for Older Adults)
• Encourage long-term care homes to allow pets (walking, companionship)
• Get seniors and physical activity issues on agenda of health conferences and meetings
• Build bridges between health care professionals and experts in community physical activity and recreation
• Make physical activity experts available to counsel on use of Physical Activity Guide for Older Adults and widely distribute the guide
• Advocate safe conditions for physical activity (ice-free sidewalks)

Overall

• Involve seniors and use as spokespeople
• Tailor strategies for different settings
• Confront complacency and denial
• Sustain programs and support volunteers
• Increase collaboration with universities and schools
• Support peer mentoring and selfhelp groups for seniors
• Encourage/teach seniors to ask questions of health professionals

4.4 Professional Information and Education

Injury Prevention

• Sessions for health professionals on best practices for injury prevention

Nutrition

• Educate health professionals about nutrient needs and handling weight loss
• Develop tools for professionals to use

Smoking Cessation

• Educate health professionals about the need to help seniors quit or reduce tobacco use
• Increase health professionals' role and commitment. Provide them with resources to help them counsel seniors.

Physical Activity

• Inform physicians and others about the need to ask seniors about physical activity
• Build bridges between health care professionals and experts in community physical activity and recreation
• Help health practitioners learn how to counsel with Canada's Physical Activity Guide for Older Adults
• Encourage referrals to community resources for physical activity for seniors

Overall

• Inform health professionals about appropriate messages and counselling at each stage of behaviour change
• Sessions on respect, supporting self-care and reversing ageism
• Make health and social aspects of aging part of curricula for health professionals
• Tailor strategies for different settings
• Involve seniors
• Confront complacency and denial
• Mobilize links between health care professionals and family caregivers
• Facilitate self-help and the support of self-care
• Make mental health a priority: links between depression and healthy aging

4.5 Knowledge Development

Injury Prevention

• Improve surveillance and reporting of injuries among seniors, (e.g. expand CHIRPP, note gender differences)
• Widely disseminate information on best practices
• Make sure expertise/research on seniors is included in collaborative work in injury prevention for all ages

Nutrition

• Build a critical mass of researchers in this area
• Improve surveillance on malnutrition and what seniors eat in all settings
• National Nutrition Survey with a focus on seniors

Smoking Cessation

• Study specifics related to seniors: why smoke, why quit, successful interventions, cost analysis
• Learn more about tobacco use and seniors in different cultures
• Conduct a best practices review specific to older smokers

Physical Activity

• Encourage investigation of the synergies between physical activity and other health practices among seniors
• Support qualitative research that listens to seniors

Overall

• Investigate motivations for behaviour change
• Identify appropriate messages in each stage of change
• Involve seniors
• Tailor strategies for different settings
• Confront complacency and denial
• Translate knowledge to seniors and seniors groups in clear language

 

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