Announcements
- no birthdays or anniversaries
- Ski day February 19th at Beaver Valley
- Karen Spencer, Grants Committee update:
- $1,000 given to the Concordia Choir
- $750 to Gingerbread House project
- $5,000 to Marillac Place
- $5,000 to Pregnancy Centre
- John Thompson, Fellowship Committee events:
- January 30th, Rangers game vs. Windsor; dinner beforehand at Gibsons Restaurant at The Aud
- February 16th, Family Day, KW Titans basketball game
- April 22nd, dinner at Schmidtsville Restaurant in Wellesley
- June 18th, Drayton Theatre, featuring Archibald Inkster (Neil Aitchison)
- Ray Finnie:
- 13 have signed up for the Coldest Night of the Year walk
- Everton: thanked Ian Robertson for donating a new digital projector for the club meetings
- Guess the Member:
- crossword addict
- bilingual
- captain of a basketball team
Answer: Ray Finnie
50/50: Allan Quarry and John Villemaire tried, but Troy Stuebing showed them how it's done - WINNER! $805.
Guest Speaker: Rick Chambers
Rick is a retired teacher, and since 2009 has been involved in Waterloo Region Age Friendly Network (AFN), which promotes healthy aging. The group has collaborated with the Schlegel Institute for Aging at the University of Waterloo. By 2030, 25% of the population of Waterloo region will be over 65 years old. Based on a recent study, 91% of older adults prefer to age in place. However, another statistic shows that 35% of older adult women live below the poverty line.
As we age, it is important to maintain social interactions. Social prescribing refers to the practice of having doctors prescribe activities instead of drugs.
A concept called NORC was started in Kingston. It stands for Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities, and refers to buildings that predominately house older adults. There are 3 NORC's in Waterloo.
The Waterloo Region AFN is promoting access to public transportation for older adults. They have found that older adults don't drive in the last 10 years of a person's life.
There are many resources for older adults, such as:
- Ontario Caregivers Organization, run by the Province of Ontario
- Local libraries, which loan many items beside books
- Ageing Well Waterloo Directory, which is published every two years
- Senior of the Year award program
- Social Isolation Guide
- a Wellness Calendar, handed out at the meeting, which allows older adults to track how they feel each day, which assists caregivers in monitoring resident mental health
- a book entitled The Arc of Ageing by Jane Barratt
- Seniors for Social Action
