Welcome to the

Age-friendly World Newsletter!

In this Newsletter:

• Site maintenance is now complete!

• Latest IFA/WHO Webinar on age-friendly housing: recording now available

• New WHO Guidelines on Housing and Health

• New WHO Report on Community-based Social Innovations for Healthy Ageing

• International Technical Meeting on Ageing in Place - Québec, Canada

• A Nordic Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities

Site maintenance is now complete!

Thank you for your patience as we conducted maintenance works to the Age-friendly World website. We are happy to announce that the maintenance is now complete, and the site has been restored to full functionality.

We have made a number of behind-the-scenes technical improvements to the site, which have streamlined user experience for both Network Members and applicants, as well as increased the reliability of our email communications.

Please feel free to get in touch with any questions, comments or feedback at gnafcc@who.int.

Latest IFA/WHO Webinar - recording now available

Missed the tenth IFA/WHO webinar on age-friendly housing? It’s not too late to join the conversation: access the webinar recording on our IFA/WHO webinar page, or watch the video here.

The webinar discussed and addressed the broader public health impact of housing on health, the latest WHO Housing and Health Guidelines (2018), innovative age-friendly housing options including the winning practices from the WHO / Grantmakers in Aging Innovation@Home contest.

The IFA/WHO Webinar Series features experts from around the world exploring a number of critical and emerging topics on Healthy Ageing. All attendees are welcome – older adults, local, regional and national government policymakers, NGOs, clinicians, urban planners, and all those with an interest in building age-friendly environments.

New WHO Guidelines on Housing and Health

New WHO guidelines on housing and health were published on November 2018. Recognising that housing quality has major implications for people’s health, these guidelines summarise new evidence-based recommendations in four relevant areas:

• Inadequate living space (crowding)

• Low and high indoor temperatures

• Injury hazards in the home

• Accessibility of housing for people with functional impairments.

The guidelines take a comprehensive, intersectoral perspective on the issue of housing and health and highlight co-benefits of interventions addressing several risk factors at the same time, including those relevant to ageing populations and age-friendliness.

Download the new housing guidelines here.

New WHO Report on Community-based Social Innovations for Healthy Ageing

In December 2018, the WHO’s Kobe Centre launched a new report on Community-based Social Innovations (CBSIs) for healthy ageing. CBSIs are initiatives that seek to empower older people to improve their self-efficacy in caring for themselves and their peers, maintain their well-being and promote social cohesion and inclusiveness. The report includes 10 case studies from Chile, China, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Lebanon, Russian Federation, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Ukraine and Viet Nam and demonstrate a range of benefits including: the integration of socially isolated older people into their communities, older people’s enhanced confidence to decide about health and social care options, and the empowerment of informal caregivers – many of whom are women.

The case studies, the executive summary, and the report can be downloaded here.

International Technical Meeting on Ageing in Place

Québec’s Ministry of Health and Social Services, the World Health Organization (WHO), France’s Ministère des Solidarités et de la Santé, and Québec’s Ministry of International Relations and la Francophonie held an International Technical Meeting on Ageing in Place from October 23 to 25, 2018 in Québec City, Canada.

This meeting brought together nearly 100 participants representing 15 countries and international organizations. The technical meeting fostered dialogue, thought, and discussion on developments, issues, challenges, and possible solutions on ageing in place. Discussions focused on four main themes:

• Taking Action on Policies

• Taking Action on the Environment

• Taking Action with the Person

• The Person and Their Actions

The three days of discussions yielded 17 technical recommendations that can support policymakers in making decisions on ageing in place.

Find out more about the meeting, and download the meeting documents here.

A Nordic Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities

Ten cities and communities in the Nordic region are currently Members of the Global Network for age-friendly cities and communities. A meeting held last year, 15-16 October, in Stockholm provided an important opportunity for these cities and others to meet, exchange and discuss how to strengthen and expand their age-friendly work. In follow up to this meeting the Nordic Council of Ministers, which supports co-operation across Nordic countries (i.e. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland) will develop a Nordic network of age-friendly cities and communities. This work will be coordinated by the Nordic Welfare Centre under the leadership of Ann Jönsson. WHO will draw on the extensive experience of the Network Affiliates to support this exciting development.

Download the meeting report

Download a recent report on age-friendly cities in the Nordic region

About us

Age-friendly World is a World Health Organization website dedicated to promoting age-friendliness around the world. The World Health Organization Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities (GNAFCC) is a global coalition of cities and communities committed to becoming more age-friendly. We currently consist of 821 member cities and communities in 40 countries, covering a population of over 228 million people.

Submit your news on Age-friendly World or get in touch with us at gnafcc@who.int.

Disclaimer: The World Health Organization does not necessarily endorse the opinions presented in this newsletter which are external content or externally-linked.