Healthy Aging
Programs designed to help aging British Columbians remain active, connected, and engaged in their existing communities.
- Programs
- Healthy Aging Team
- In the News
- Research & Reports
- Community Engagement
- Project Impact Healthy Aging
- CBSS Leadership Council
Healthy Aging Programs
United Way Healthy Aging administers grants and manages programs that provide exceptional quality-of-life benefits to seniors, helping them stay Active, Connected and Engaged! The Healthy Aging portfolio currently features eight different grant streams. A network of 127 community-based service agencies deliver 195 Healthy Aging programs throughout British Columbia.
Healthy Aging Team
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Kahir Lalji
Provincial Director -
Bobbi Symes
Assistant Director -
Gemma Bridgefoot
Project Assistant -
Amaanali Fazal
Emergency Response and Partnerships Coordinator -
Camille J. Hannah
Provincial Coordinator -
Cathy Holmes
Provincial Community Planner, Better at Home -
Wingsi Kan
Project Assistant -
Mai Ngueyn
Project Assistant -
Jessamine Liu
Administrative Assistant -
Barbara McMillan
Provincial Coordinator, Community Engagement -
Esther Moreno
Capacity Building Specialist -
Calum Petersen
Granting Specialist -
Dr. Beverley Pitman
Senior Regional Community Developer (Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley, Sea to Sky) -
Jean Rikhof
Provincial Coordinator, Data & Reporting -
Sarrah Storey
Regional Community Developer (Northern BC) -
Lisa Cyr
Regional Community Developer (Interior BC) -
Cheryl Baldwin
Regional Community Developer (Central & Northern Vancouver Island) -
Laura Kadowaki
Program & Operations Coordinator
Healthy Aging – In The News
At Healthy Aging, we believe that sharing stories about the work that’s being done in community helps to strengthen connections.
For more information about any of these stories, please contact healthyaging@uwbc.ca.
Healthy Aging – Research & Reports
Healthy Aging relies on social research to ensure all our programs are meaningful and responsive to the needs of people as they age. We undertake our own research projects and work in collaboration with other respected researchers.
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Healthy Aging Year in Review (2021-2022)
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Healthy Aging Program Brochure
The Healthy Aging program is delivered through United Way British Columbia (United Way BC), whose work is to strengthen vital connections that support people in need in local communities.
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Safe Seniors, Strong Communities (6-month Summary: March 27 to September 30, 2020).
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Healthy Aging Year in Review (2020-2021)
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Rising to the Challenge – How BC’s CBSS agencies stepped up during Covid-19
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Family & Friend Caregivers Information and Resource Handbook
Directed to family and friend caregivers, the handbook recognizes the crucial role that unpaid caregivers play in Metro Vancouver’s public health system. Just like doctors and nurses, they need comprehensive, up-to-date information in order to provide proper care to their loved ones.
Community Engagement
The Community Based Seniors’ Services (CBSS) sector is broad and diverse, and to ensure the work of Healthy Aging by United Way BC remains relevant and working toward the goals of the sector at large, a number of community accountability and task groups have been convened to guide and support the work on a variety of fronts. Collectively, these groups are working toward: supporting increased capacity and sustainability of the sector to address the growing needs of BC’s aging population; raising awareness of the breadth and value of the sector; fostering opportunities for communication, coordination, and collaboration; and developing a collective voice on healthy aging and the CBSS sector.
Consultations
Regional and Provincial Consultations bring together staff and volunteers from CBSS sector agencies and partner organizations from throughout B.C. to:
- share current resources, strategies, and programs that are making a difference in community for a particular area of priority
- identify challenges and gaps that need to be addressed
- explore opportunities for potential activities, resources, and collaboration to advance community action and effectiveness in those priority areas relevant to supporting older adults in community
Provincial Working Groups
To advance key sector and capacity development priorities, provincial working groups have been created for a number of priorities areas identified through Raising the Profile outreach, the Healthy Aging Summit, and more recent consultation feedback, as well as opportunities such as current interest and efforts of various partners and stakeholders. These include:
1. Higher Needs/More Isolated Seniors grants program
2. Housing
3. Nutritional Supports
4. Interfaith and Intercultural Communities
5. Seniors Community Action Committees
6. Rural/Remote Communities
7. Indigenous Relations
These working groups are working to identify priorities and develop activities aimed at addressing needs in their subject areas. In addition, an Information, Referral, and Personal Advocacy community of practice has been established to share information on programs, policies, and practices, relevant resources, and opportunities for training, coordination, and collaboration.
Provincial Summit on Aging
The Provincial Summit on Aging brings together Community-Based Seniors’ Services (CBSS) organizations, older adults, family and friend caregivers, academia, and government representatives to discuss and collaborate on current issues and innovations in healthy aging.
The third biennale Summit on Aging took place on April 27-29, 2022 in Richmond, BC. To learn more about the summit, including the roster of speakers, read the report below.
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2022 Provincial Summit on Aging Summary Report
Healthy Aging Core
Healthy Aging Collaborative Online Resources and Education is a platform to connect community-based seniors services organizations and allied agencies and individuals in British Columbia. CORE is designed
to provide up-to-date information, resources, and training opportunities and to make it easier to communicate, coordinate, and collaborate in order to help build capacity, strengthen the network, and develop a collective and cohesive voice among volunteers, staff, and others who support healthy aging initiatives.
The development and implementation of Healthy Aging CORE is a response to recommendations made from community partners and stakeholders across the Province, based on extensive research, feedback from regional consultations, and actions from the 2017 Provincial Healthy Aging Summit.
Project Impact Healthy Aging
Healthy Aging also provides leadership training and capacity building within the community-based seniors’ service sector and the broader non-profit sector. For more information contact healthyaging@uwbc.ca.
- Project Impact Healthy Aging – A program development and evaluation process designed to help community agencies who provide programming for seniors a way to measure and improve their efforts.
CBSS Leadership Council
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Annwen Loverin
(Co-Chair)Executive Director, Silver Harbour Seniors’ Activity Centre
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Marcy Cohen
(Co-Chair)CBSS Leadership Council
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Anthony Kupferschmidt
Executive Director, Langley Senior Resources Society
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Daisy Au
Coordinator, Seniors Club, Specialized & Innovative Programs, MOSAIC
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Deborah Hollins
Executive Director, Nanaimo Family Life Association
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Debbie Hertha
Seniors Coordinator, Community Social Development, City of Richmond
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Erin Anderlini
Health Director, Prince George Native Friendship Centre
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Glenys Cavers
Director of Volunteer & Seniors’ Services, Beacon Community Service
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Grace Admiraal-Blansjee
Executive Director, Agassiz-Harrison Community Services
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Jane Osborne
Regional Mentor, Vancouver Island Central and North, BC CRNs
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Dr. Janice Murphy
Executive Director, Kootenay Boundary Community Services Co-operative
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Linda Stride
Recreation, Health and Wellness Supervisor, City of Kamloops
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Lorelei Hawkins
Member, CBSS Leadership Council
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Louise Tremblay
Executive Director, Seniors Come Share Society
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Lynne Romano
Community Development Coordinator, Golden, B.C.
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Mike Jennings
President, Men’s Shed Association of B.C.; President of Coquitlam Men’s Shed Society
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Sahra-Lea Tosdevine-Tataryn
Project Manager, Age-Friendly Strategy for Seniors Project, City of Surrey
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Sheila McDonald
Coordinator, Prince Rupert Seniors Centre
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Tim Rowe
Regional Mentor, Northern Interior Region
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Vi Sorenson
Executive Director, Seniors’ Outreach and Resource Centre
Questions?
We’d love to hear from you!
is when primary care physicians or other health practitioners refer senior patients to a community-based Social Prescribing program. Social Prescribing Program coordinators, or Community Connectors, then work with these individuals, connecting them to a range of local, non-clinical services that are available through community agencies.
A “social prescription” addresses a person’s social needs as part of their overall health and wellness plan, and allows for a comprehensive approach to multiple medical issues. There are 19 community agencies in B.C. who run Healthy Aging’s Social Prescribing program.