Ipswich City Council

Community Approach to Ageing Well Model

The CAAM Project is a partnership between Ipswich City Council; the Australasian Centre on Ageing; UQ Boilerhouse; Qld Department of Communities; and Gold Coast City Councilto develop a model of local collaborative projects that supports the national policy goal of healthy ageing.

A workshop to determine a collaborative project within Ipswich was held on 7 August 2007.

Objectives of the workshop were to:

• Identify and discuss the findings from the research so far
• Assess various options and discuss the potential for collaborative responses
• Provide opportunities for networking

A number of issues facing seniors in the Ipswich community were identified including:

• Social isolation including people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
• Transport
• Accomodation - range of options and adequacy of supply
• Financial matters, elder abuse and mental health
• Perceptions of community safety
• Legislative restrictions and impact of regulations
• Attrition of volunteers

The August meeting highlighted the value of building on the many existing facilities and opportunities available in Ipswich and of the possibility for building relationships across generations, despite focusing on the ageing population.

Three (3) possible collaborative projects were highlighted:

1. A community workshop garden
2. A holistic health centre
3. An information collection and dissemination service

The meeting identified the considerable overlap between the first two of these.

Questions to now be addressed:

• How do we ensure that we build on and enhance existing activities, services, etc rather than duplicating or competing with them?
• Are there other developments underway in Ipswich that we could fit in with that were not mentioned at the workshop such as council or State government projects, emerging residential areas with concentrations of seniors, or initiatives of community groups?

An action-planning workshop to work together on developing the ideas generated at the August Workshop will be held at a venue to be advised on 10 October 2007, shortly after the school holidays.

Over the next three years, this project will develop and implement a model of local collaboration responding to national policy goals comcerned with the community's capacity to age well. The model will bring together key stakeholders in ageing, including older people themselves. It will be implemented into contrasting communities in Ipswich and on the Gold Coast.

Stakeholders will work together on a strategy to make a difference for older people and to make Ipswich and the Gold Coast age-friendly places where people can age well. The intention is to develop a sustainable model capable of being applied to a range of issues and in a range of contexts. By doing so, the project addresses two key policy issues:

1. the critical challenge presented by population ageing in local communities; and
2. the role of collaboration and partnerships in formulation and implementation of human services policy.

 Community Approach to Ageing well Model (CAAM) Project Announcement (PDF, 578 kb)

For Further Information:

Please contact
Jo-Anne Everingham, Research Officer
CAAM Project, Australasian Centre on Ageing
The University of Queensland
Phone: (07) 3346 9371

Last Updated 16 Oct 2007 | Print this page | Contact us | News Feeds | Copyright © 2008 Ipswich City Council
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