Learn from
Good Practices
Eye camps for older people | Wellawaya, Sri Lanka
Domain: Community support and health services
The target participants of the eye camps are older people living in Wellawaya who are at risk of losing their eye-sight due to cataract, and those who are experiencing deteriorate vision but cannot afford glasses or surgery.
A mobile eye camp is a converted bus that is fully equipped with screening facilities and a team of professionals. It travels to pre-selected venues within the city to help older people test their eye-sight and provides them with free glasses, guidance on proper eye care and referral to eye hospitals for free cataract surgeries if necessary. The local community can play a part in the coordinating work and contribute by providing space for the eye camps. Many older people benefited from this initiative which has become an ongoing practice in Wellawaya.
Read more: Click here
Older Adults Housing Directory | Waterloo, Canada
Domain: Housing
The Mayor’s Advisory Committee of Age-friendly Waterloo presented an action plan to develop the city to be a sustainable, age-friendly community. One of the recommendations was to develop an older adult housing directory. In addition to basic information such as contact details, cost, number of units, unit sizes and level of care available, this directory also provides information about amenities at different locations and in the surrounding neighbourhood.
Read more: Click here
Age-friendly Garden City Shopping Centre | Perth, City of Melville, Australia
Domain: Respect and social inclusion
The City of Melville developed a project “Age-friendly Garden City Shopping Centre” in partnership with one of the biggest shopping centres called “Garden City”. The project aims to encourage local businesses to implement age-friendly and accessible initiatives to support older population and people with disabilities, such as providing large print customer directory.
Read more: Click here
Computer Training Curriculum for Older Adults | Ottawa, Canada
Domain: Social participation
The Ottawa Public Library developed a computer literacy and internet safety curriculum for older adults, which covered modules ranging from using a mouse to searching the Internet and using web-based email. A “train the trainer” approach was developed to train community volunteers to present the programmes to older adults in community centres and seniors’ residences. This initiative not only improves residents’ access to city information, but also enhances social inclusion and social participation.
Read more: Click here
Recognising Elderly Volunteers | Oslo, Norway
Domain: Civic participation and employment
The Council for Senior Citizens hosted a conference for volunteering seniors in April 2015 in which senior citizen volunteers received awards of appreciation and recognition of their voluntary contributions. During the conference, new volunteers were also recruited to promote voluntary work across the city. The Council for Senior Citizens aims to make this a regular event given the positive feedback received.
Read more: Click here
"School crossing patroller" | Odivelas, Portugal
Domain: Respect and social inclusion
Retired people were trained and assigned to Odivelas county schools as patrollers. They would receive daily wages and bus passes for their work. This project ensures the safety of students when crossing the street while also promoting active and healthy ageing of older people in the county.
Read more: Click here
Age-friendly College | New York City, USA
Domain: Communication and information
An online database, namely “Age-friendly NYC College Link”, has been developed to enable older adults to have more education opportunities. The database provides information of courses, programmes, activities, events and resources to older adults at local colleges and universities. Examples include: senior discounts or free access to courses and campus events; classes in computer technology, money management, foreign languages, and many other subjects; job skills training programmes; public lecture series; and other programmes designed especially for older adults.
Read more: Click here
CityBench Programme | New York City, USA
Domain: Outdoor spaces and buildings
The CityBench Programme is an initiative to increase public seating around New York City, especially for the elderly and the disabled. In addition to encouraging New Yorkers to request a bench where they see a lack of seating, the programme has identified priority bench locations for installation, including bus stops without shelters, sidewalks near transit facilities (e.g. subway stations), senior centres, hospitals and community health centres, commercial zones and shopping districts, as well as municipal facilities (e.g., public libraries, schools).
Read more: Click here