One of five county residents will be 65 or older by 2020
Published in the March 30 – April 12, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Donna L. Weisblatt
The city of Morgan Hill is about to become the first of 13 cities in Santa Clara County to receive the World Health Organization’s Age-Friendly City designation.
According to WHO, “an age-friendly environment fosters active aging by optimizing opportunities for health, participation and security to enhance the quality of life as people age.” In the past 10 years, hundreds of cities around the world have embraced these ideals and are creating programs to incorporate WHO’s goals so older adults will flourish and thrive in their respective communities. The eight areas are transportation, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, civic participation and employment, communication and information, community support and health services, and outdoor spaces and buildings.
The designation will reflect the city’s intention to meet specific unmet needs for the older population which will benefit the daily living for older adults and for all residents.
Being known as an Age-Friendly City is important because the city has a growing population of senior citizens. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of Morgan Hill adults 65 and older was 9.5 percent in 2010. In Santa Clara County, the percentage of older adults 65-plus was 12.2 percent in 2013, and is estimated to be 20 percent in 2020. One out of every five residents will be 65 and older by 2020.
Morgan Hill’s Senior Advisory Committee has joined the Santa Clara County-wide Age-Friendly initiative, and also aligned with Anabel Pelham and the Center for Age-Friendly Excellence to provide expertise and support. They have also gathered information by conducting two Morgan Hill focus groups, one with seniors and the other with professionals who work with older adults, to identify specific needs in our city in each of the eight domains.
They will also present an application in April 2016 to the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, for the Age-Friendly designation and in May 2016 do a formal AARP assessment of community members.
When the city receives the designation, it will develop a three-year action plan based on findings of AARP assessment and focus group data to include two short-term projects and one long-term project. They will also use the designation as leverage to approach corporations and endowments, and apply for grants to finance the work needed. Finally, they will follow four action stages during a three-year period to include planning, implementation, progress evaluation and ongoing improvement.
If you are interested in working to move the Age-Friendly City project forward, please contact Debbie Vasquez, [email protected], or Donna L. Weisblatt, [email protected].
Donna L. Weisblatt is a Morgan Hill resident who is a volunteer member of the Senior Advisory Committee.
