Accessibility and Age-Friendly Communities: Strengthening Local Impact

Date: March 5 2020

Presenters:

• Alfred Spencer, Director, Accessibility Outreach, Education and Referral Branch, Accessibility Policy, Employment Strategy & Outreach Division, Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility
• Sarah Webster, Knowledge Broker, Ontario Age-Friendly Communities Outreach Program
• Cheryl Dillon, Accessibility Coordinator, City of Barrie 

The Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility (MSAA) helps to make Ontario more accessible by implementing the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and preventing barriers for people with disabilities, and developing policies and programs to improve the quality of life for seniors so they can be safe, engaged, active and healthy. One way this is done is through Government of Ontario funding to the Ontario Age-Friendly Community (AFC) Outreach Initiative. The AFC Outreach Initiative is administered by the University of Waterloo, Queen’s University, Huntington/Laurentian University, the Ontario Interdisciplinary Council for Aging and Health (OICAH), and the Seniors Health Knowledge Network (SHKN). This program is designed to help communities increase awareness of age-friendly planning principles, share best practices, and start, continue, evaluate and improve their AFC action plans.

During this webinar, presenters:

• Described age-friendly principles and the current strategy to support age-friendly planning and implementation in Ontario
• Described accessibility principles and how the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities (AODA) Act impacts provincial and municipal planning
• Explored the ways in which age-friendly and accessibility principles complement each other
• Used Barrie, Ontario as a case example to demonstrate how linking age-friendly and accessibility planning can strengthen local work