Tilson Announces Support to Engage Seniors

BOLTON, Ontario – Seniors in Dufferin-Caledon will soon have new opportunities for social participation and inclusion, today announced by David Tilson, Member of Parliament for Dufferin-Caledon.

Older Adult Centres' Association of Ontario (OACAO) is receiving $25,000 for its project from the New Horizons for Seniors Program focusing on engaging baby boomers.

Tools and resources will be developed with senior volunteer leadership involvement. Research will be conducted to gather sector information about the challenges and successes of programming to the baby boomer sector. Best practices will be developed on how organizations are engaging Junior Seniors in leisure activities. Resources will be presented at a series of workshops and will be available on-line. An interactive web site will be developed to make the resources and materials available to all organizations. At least 70 senior volunteers will attend the training workshops and at least another 100 seniors will access the website. The OACAO represents 160,000 older adults across the province of Ontario, and all members will have access to the resources.

“Initiatives such as the New Horizons for Seniors Program are helping to ensure that seniors maintain a good quality of life and are able to be active, participating members of their communities,” said Mr. Tilson. “This Program also helps to offset the challenges of our aging demographics, which will see the number of seniors double in the next 20 years.”

“The goal of our project is to create tools and resources to connect and engage baby boomers to Older Adult Centres,” said Sue Hesjedahl, Executive Director of the OACAO. “Baby boomers are a diverse cohort with different interests and needs than traditional seniors now being served at Older Adult Centres. We will research the cohort and determine how best to meet their needs and interests.”