Creative strategies for those moving into later life.

Project stage: Developing and Testing.

The problem: Older people face barriers to participation in their communities, which limits their ability to continue to be involved in cultural, economic, and social life according to their needs, preferences, and capacities. This can result in social isolation, reduced well-being, and decreased quality of life. Therefore, there is a critical need to remove these barriers and provide more opportunities for older people to remain involved in all aspects of community life as they age.

Target Group: Older people who are retired or close to retirement from full-time work. 

Geographic Area: Co. Dublin and Co. Mayo.

Partners: Retired Public Service Employees Association.

Solution: It is crucial to remove these barriers to participation and provide opportunities for their continued involvement in all aspects of community life to promote social inclusion and to ensure that older people can contribute to society’s cultural, economic, and social development. We faciliated participants identify and articulate their needs, preferences and capacities by giving them the opportunity to reflect on and share their life experience and values and beliefs. Delivery of our training programme and networking for connection explored what home and community meant and what they can contribute to this phase of their lives. We supported the continuation of their journey through coaching and development of their own pathway to community involvement and personal growth.

Funders: Community Foundation Ireland.

Impact: Participants delivered definite change plans for this latter stage of their lives.

What people said: “The programme has encouraged me to seek out like-minded people’ and ‘to engage in activities in which we have common purpose”.

Next step: Scale to other regions.