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Age Friendly Communities

The Homebound Services department of the Ottawa Public Library has been bringing the library to the community since 1971. With approximately 500 customers served every month, the department is always busy selecting books and other library materials to brighten people’s days. This service brings the library to customers who aren’t able to come in on a regular basis due to mobility issues related to age, illness or disability. They deliver books and other library materials to customers in their own homes as well as retirement homes and long-term care facilities all around Ottawa.

Homebound Services offers two main types of service; a “mini library” or pop-up library service which is offered in 14 retirement residences in Ottawa, as well as a selection and delivery service. For the mini library service, staff members visit each retirement residence once every month. They bring a laptop and bins of approximately 200 books and DVDs for customers to browse and check out. Customers can also place holds and ask for recommendations or get help with eBooks or audiobooks. Other customers outside of the 14 mini library locations receive personalized selection of their materials each month by dedicated staff, and delivery right to their door. Selections are made after a discussion with the customer about what their interests are and what format of materials they would like (i.e large print, DVDs, audiobooks).

For many customers, the service is about much more than simply delivery of library materials. It’s the friendly face at the door bringing them their monthly supply of interesting materials to read, listen to or watch. It’s the friendly voice on the other end of the phone chatting about book recommendations and that last book they loved. One long-time Homebound Services customer recently expressed her gratitude that the materials she receives every month “…lightens the dull days and shortens the long hours…”. Many Homebound Services customers have print disabilities and also benefit from the library’s partnership with the Center for Equitable Library Access, which provides library materials in accessible formats such as audiobooks and braille.

Staff who work in many of the retirement homes that the library visits also really appreciate the services that the library offers, including assistance with book clubs, as well as providing programs such as magic shows and author visits. Brittani Fawcett, Activity Manager at Oakpark Retirement Community, feels that the Homebound Services program has greatly benefitted her residents. She uses the library’s memory kits, and other materials to provide programming for residents. Memory kits contain materials and activities meant to bring back memories of a certain time or topic and are based on themes.

“It’s helped all of our residents: not only our independent residents but our residents on memory care have also benefitted. For our independent ones, they’re happy to come down once a month and borrow new material. They’re always excited about coming and to see what there’s going to be. And our memory care residents also benefit because we get program material from the library given to us every month to enhance the programming and it’s been well received and very much appreciated. Thank you so much again to OPL for all the wonderful work you are doing with Oakpark and in the Ottawa community.” Brittani Fawcett, Activity Manager, Oakpark Retirement Community

For Homebound Services staff, the service they provide is about the people and the connections they make, and the ability to provide an inclusive service to residents who otherwise may not be able to make use of all the wonderful materials available at the Ottawa Public Library. Staff member Sarah Lawrance values the reciprocal relationship between Homebound customers and library staff. “Homebound customers have much to teach us. Whether someone is giving me a great movie recommendation, telling me about Ottawa’s history, or sharing life advice, there’s always a great conversation to be had with our customers.”

“One of the things I love about this service,” Lawrance says, “is that we’re building a world that is increasingly friendlier to older adults and people with disabilities, and in that way we’re building a better future for everyone. Whether we may all need to use Homebound Services someday is yet to be determined, but I want to always live in a world where services like this exist.”

For more information including how to register, visit Homebound Services.

Aging Well Together: Age-friendly Communities / Bien vieillir ensemble: Les collectivités-amies des aînés
by hbsr

  • Palaces for the People

    Palaces for the People

    How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life

    By Klinenberg, Eric
    (Book - 2018)
    An eminent sociologist and bestselling author offers an inspiring blueprint for rebuilding our fractured society. We are living in a time of deep divisions. Americans are sorting themselves along racial, religious, and cultural lines, leading to a level of polarization that the country hasn't seen since the Civil War. Pundits and politicians are calling for us to come together, to find common purpose. But how, exactly, can this be done? In Palaces for the People, Eric Klinenberg suggests a way forward. He believes that the future of democratic societies rests not simply on shared values but on shared spaces: the libraries, childcare centers, bookstores, churches, synagogues, and parks where crucial, sometimes life-saving connections, are formed. These are places where people gather and linger, making friends across group lines and strengthening the entire community. Klinenberg calls this the 'social infrastructure': When it is strong, neighborhoods flourish; when it is neglected, as it has been in recent years, families and individuals must fend for themselves. Klinenberg takes us around the globe--from a floating school in Bangladesh to an arts incubator in Chicago, from a soccer pitch in Queens to an evangelical church in Houston--to show how social infrastructure is helping to solve some of our most pressing challenges: isolation, crime, education, addiction, political polarization, and even climate change.
  • Vieillissement et aménagement

    Vieillissement et aménagement

    perspectives plurielles

    (Book - 2018)
    Axé sur les enjeux sociaux, économiques et politiques de notre temps, cet ouvrage est une réflexion sans complaisance sur le vieillissement. Il met en lumière les savoirs actuels sur les habitats et leur aménagement au regard de la demande implicite de la société qui vise à ce que les gens vieillissent chez eux, dans leur communauté. Où en est la recherche à ce sujet au Québec et dans les collectivités francophones ? Quelles sont les politiques publiques et les pratiques d’aménagement dans ce contexte ? Comment adapter et créer des milieux de vie sains, sûrs et accueil­lants pour tous les âges dans les régions et les villes d’aujourd’hui et de demain ? Les auteurs, des chercheurs et des professionnels issus de plusieurs disciplines, analysent cette question dans un contexte nouveau où le vieillissement démographique a d’abord capté l’attention des domaines de la santé, de l’économie du travail et de la fiscalité. Trois thématiques structurent l’ouvrage : les façons de penser le vieillissement et d’anticiper son impact, l’évaluation des espaces publics et de la mobilité et les transformations à imaginer pour les milieux bâtis.
  • Bolder

    Bolder

    Making the Most of Our Longer Lives

    By Honoré, Carl
    (Book - 2019)
    Emboldening ourselves in older age demands big structural changes. For a start, we will have to tear up the old script that locks us into devoting the early part of our life to education, the middle chunk to working and raising kids, and whatever is left over at the end to leisure. In an age-inappropriate world, these silos will dissolve. We'll embrace the idea that we can carry on learning from start to finish; that we can work less and devote more time to family, leisure, and giving back to our communities in our middle years; and that we can remain active and engaged in our later years. Carl Honoré has travelled the globe speaking to influential figures who are bucking preconceived notions of age, whether at work or in their personal lives. He looks at the cultural, medical, and technological developments that are opening new possibilities for us all. Bolder is a radical re-think of our approach to everything from education, healthcare and work, to design, relationships and politics. An essential and inspiring read for everyone interested in our collective future.
  • Basic Income for Canadians

    Basic Income for Canadians

    The Key to A Healthier, Happier, More Secure Life for All

    By Forget, Evelyn L.
    (Book - 2018)
    Canadian social programs were designed for a world in which most people graduated from high school, then found a permanent job with benefits that they would hold until they retired with a pension. In the last forty years, however, the labour market has fundamentally changed. Economic insecurity is now a feature of the lives for large numbers of people. This new situation has given new life to an old idea: basic income. Author Evelyn L. Forget discusses how Canada would set a basic income, what it would accomplish, how it could be implemented, whether Canadians can afford it and how it would fit into the overall social policy landscape.
  • The Remix

    The Remix

    How to Lead and Succeed in the Multigenerational Workplace

    By Pollak, Lindsey
    (Book - 2019)
    A guide for business leaders, entrepreneurs, and employees looking to navigate today's multigenerational workplace, which spans more generations than ever before. Millennials have only just begun their reign as the largest generation in the workplace. But they are not alone. For the next decade at least, these young professionals will be working side by side with more established generations, including the Baby Boomers who are working longer than ever, and an entirely new group coming up, Generation Z. This means within any organization, any team, any meeting, any marketing opportunity, you may find any combination of generations. Each of these age groups has their own attitude, expectations, and professional style. To lead and succeed in any organization today, you must adapt to how Millennials work, while continuing to accommodate their older colleagues and paying attention to the next generations coming up. The Remix shows you how to adapt and win through proven strategies that serve all generations' needs.
  • Change Here Now

    Change Here Now

    Permaculture Solutions for Personal and Community Transformation

    By Brock, Adam
    (Book - 2017)
    Presents more than eighty proven solutions for building healthy communities. Brock outlines strategies for redesigning our social and economic systems to mimic nature’s resilience and abundance. Practical, innovative, and visually compelling, this book presents actionable and easy-to-understand tools for a compassionate and methodical approach to building better communities. Sidebars and diagrams supplement the text, while case studies illustrate endeavors such as starting a business, launching a social change project, or setting personal goals. Brock suggests ways to engage disempowered communities in a meaningful and authentic way, and draws on eight years of in-depth research and investigation to demonstrate what makes communities work at the most fundamental level.
  • The Age of Dignity

    The Age of Dignity

    Preparing for the Elder Boom in A Changing America

    By Poo, Ai-jen
    (Book - 2015)
    As the baby boomer generation ages and life expectancy grows, the United States will continue to see a significant increase in elderly populations, which will require more caregivers and government support. Poo (director, National Domestic Workers Alliance; codirector, Caring Across Generations) successfully argues that now is the time to consider cultural, behavioral, and policy changes in how the elderly and those caregivers who support them are treated and regarded. In addition to providing background and statistical data on the increasing elderly population in America, the author thoroughly examines issues surrounding elderly caregivers, including the low wages they receive for an arguably demanding job, family members who care for their elders, immigrant populations frequently serving as caregivers and domestic workers, issues surrounding women being primary caregivers, and much more. Poo also discusses practical policy considerations that may address these issues and cultural attitudes or behaviors about these demographics, which she maintains should be further examined.
  • New Aging

    New Aging

    Live Smarter Now to Live Better Forever

    By Hollwich, Matthias
    (Book - 2016)
    New Aging invites us to take everything we associate with aging--the loss of freedom and vitality, the cold and sterile nursing homes, the boredom--and throw it out the window. As an architect, Matthias Hollwich is devoted to finding ways in which we can shape our living spaces and communities to make aging a graceful and fulfilling aspect of our lives.
  • Creating Cohousing

    Creating Cohousing

    Building Sustainable Communities

    By McCamant, Kathryn
    (Book - 2011)
    How can we regain the elements of the traditional village - family, cooperation, community and a sense of belonging - within the context of 21st century life? Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities is an in-depth exploration of a uniquely rewarding type of housing which is perfect for anyone who values their independence but longs for more connection with those around them. This fully-illustrated manual combines nuts-and-bolts practical considerations and design ideas with extensive case studies of dozens of diverse communities in Europe and North America. Cohousing communities create unique opportunities for designing more sustainable lifestyles. Whether urban, suburban or rural; senior or intergenerational; retrofit or new, the authors show how the physical structures of cohousing communities lend themselves to a more efficient use of resources, and make everything from gardening to childcare to socializing easier. Creating Cohousing puts the "neighbor" back into "neighborhood"; and is an essential resource for anyone interested in more environmentally and socially sustainable living.
  • The Abundant Community

    The Abundant Community

    Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods

    By McKnight, John
    (Book - 2010)
    We are besieged by messages from consumer society telling us that we are insufficient, that we must purchase what we need from specialists and systems outside the community. We outsource our health care, child care, relationships, recreation, our safety, and our satisfaction. We are trained to become consumers and clients, not citizens and neighbors. McKnight and Block take a thoughtful look at how this situation came about, what maintains it, and the crippling effect it has had on our families, our communities, and our environment. Right in our neighborhood we have the capacity to address our human needs in ways that systems, which see us only as interchangeable units, as problems to be solved, never can. We all have gifts to offer, even the most seemingly marginal among us. It does not matter how rich or poor the neighborhood is. McKnight and Block suggest how to nurture voluntary, self-organizing structures that will reveal these gifts and allow them to be shared to the greatest mutual benefit. They recommend roles we can assume and actions we can take to reweave the social fabric that has been unraveled by consumerism and its belief that however much we have, it is not enough.
  • 25 Fun Things to Do for your Neighbors

    25 Fun Things to Do for your Neighbors

    By Mason, Paul
    (Book - 2019)
    Engage with the people in your community through 25 activities and projects designed to get you out into your neighborhood. Clean a neighbor's car, walk a dog, organize a block party, clean up the trash, and more. Discover great ways to make new friends and give back.
  • Home Sweet Neighborhood

    Home Sweet Neighborhood

    Transforming Cities One Block at A Time

    By Mulder, Michelle
    (Book - 2019)
    Picture a busy avenue. Now plant trees along the boulevard, paint a mural by the empty lot, and add a community garden. Set up benches along the sidewalks and make space for kids' chalk drawings, and you've set the scene for a thriving community. Placemaking—personalizing public and semi-private spaces like front yards—is a growing trend in cities and suburbs around the world, drawing people out of their homes and into conversation with one another. Kids are natural placemakers, building tree forts, drawing on sidewalks and setting up lemonade stands, but people of all ages can enjoy creative placemaking activities. From Dutch families who drag couches and tables onto sidewalks for outdoor suppers to Canadians who build little lending libraries to share books with neighbors, people can do things that make life more fun and strengthen neighborhoods. Home Sweet Neighborhood combines upbeat text, fun facts and colorful photos to intrigue and inspire readers.
  • Independent for Life

    Independent for Life

    Homes and Neighborhoods for An Aging America

    (Book - 2012)
    Do you want to age independently in your own home and neighborhood? Seniors dread nursing homes, which are not cost-effective anyway. Staying home, aging in place, is most people's preference. "Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities"--existing buildings and neighborhoods of old people--are not accessible, suburbs are isolated, and services remain scattered and uncoordinated. This collection of essays by various authors provides models and analyses using different approaches that work, such as redeveloping dead shopping centers into viable communities. Other ideas include lower-cost remodeling current housing and building new homes for accessibility and safety, retrofitting existing neighborhoods to connect needed services and amenities, and planning new communities that work well for people of all ages.
  • How We Live Now

    How We Live Now

    Redefining Home and Family in the 21st Century

    By DePaulo, Bella M.
    (Book - 2015)
    DePaulo's cross-country survey of living arrangements shatters the illusion that the average American belongs to a nuclear family living in a single-family home in the suburbs. In co-housing communities along the West Coast, she discovers that residents of all generations have found happiness in common gardens and shared meals. Meanwhile, seniors have become "lifespace" pioneers, eschewing institutions and creating their own senior communities, sometimes with juniors involved as well. In Chicago, foster families and older adults enrich one another's lives in the appropriately named Hope Meadows. Other lifestyle approaches and strategies covered here include house sharing, finding social networks (not necessarily in the online sense), and keeping a home separately from one's partner.
  • Young-old

    Young-old

    Urban Utopias of An Aging Society

    By Simpson, Deane
    (Book - 2015)
    Young-old examines contemporary architectural and urban mutations that have emerged as a consequence of one of the key demographic transformations of our time: aging populations. Distinguishing between different phases of old age, the book identifies the group known as the 'young old' as a remarkable petri dish for experiments in subjectivity, collectivity, and environment. In investigating this field of latent urban and architectural novelty, Young-old asserts both the escapist and emancipatory dimensions of these practices. Richly illustrated with drawings, maps, and photographs, the volume documents phenomena ranging from the continuous, golf-cart-accessible urban landscapes of the world's largest retirement community in Florida and the mono-national 'urbanizaciones' of 'the retirement home of Europe' on Costa del Sol, to the Dutch-themed residential community at Huis Ten Bosch in southern Japan.

  • Hygge Homesharing

    An Ottawa-based home-sharing pilot project centering the LGBTQ2S+ community, which seeks to pair students in search of housing with seniors who live alone.

  • Community Deathcare Canada

    Community-centred deathcare is the practice of assisting individuals, families and communities in navigating their journeys through dying and deathcare. This may include offering public and private education about dying and deathcare, modeling death acceptance and a mature understanding of death, supporting and encouraging a person who is dying, supporting and encouraging a dying person’s loved ones and community, and more.
  • Aging Our Way

    Aging Our Way

    Lessons for Living From 85 and Beyond

    By Loe, Meika
    (Book - 2011)
    Aging Our Way follows the everyday lives of 30 elders (ages 85-102) living at home and mostly alone to understand how they create and maintain meaningful lives for themselves. Drawing on the latest interdisciplinary scholarship on aging and three years of interviews with the elders, Meika Loe explores how elders navigate the practical challenges of living as independently as possible while staying healthy, connected, and comfortable. While most books on the subject treat old age as a social problem and elders as simply diminished versions of their former selves, Aging Our Way views them as they really are: lively, complicated, engaging people finding creative ways to make their aging as meaningful and manageable as possible. In their own voices, elders describe how they manage everything from grocery shopping, doctor appointments, and disability, to creating networks of friends and maintaining their autonomy. In many ways, these elders can serve as role models. Through their stories, Loe helps us to think about aging, well-being, and the value of human relationships in new ways. Written with remarkable warmth and depth of understanding, Aging Our Way offers a vivid look at a group of people who too often remain invisible - those who have lived the longest - and all they have to teach us.
  • Pocket Neighborhoods

    Pocket Neighborhoods

    Creating Small-scale Community in A Large-scale World

    By Chapin, Ross
    (Book - 2011)
    Pocket Neighborhoods: Creating Small Scale Community in a Large Scale World introduces an antidote to faceless, placeless sprawl -- small scale neighborhoods where people can easily know one another, where empty nesters and single householders with far-flung families can find friendship or a helping hand nearby, and where children can have shirt-tail aunties and uncles just beyond their front gate. The book describes inspiring pocket neighborhoods through stories of the people who live there, as well as the progressive planners, innovative architects, pioneering developers, craftspeople and gardeners who helped create them. Includes a chapter on senior cohousing.
  • Promotion de l'intégration et de la qualité de vie des aînés

    Promotion de l'intégration et de la qualité de vie des aînés

    rapport du Comité permanent des ressources humaines, du développement des compétences, du développement social et de la condition des personnes handicapées

    By Canada
    (eBook - 2018)
    Rapport du Comité permanent des ressources humaines, du développement des compétences, du développement social et de la condition des personnes handicapées.

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Credits

  • YouTube video: AMI: Accessible Media Inc. (2017, Nov 21). Homebound Services, Ottawa Public Library. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/t_byAgN6YYc.
  • Music in podcast: "The Cast and Favor" and “Sal's Piano Solo” by Blue Dot Sessions (https://sessions.blue/)