To help our community navigate this deluge of information, on behalf of The Walnut Foundation, I was pleased to partner with Sinai Health System’s Healthy Ageing and Geriatrics Program, the LIFE Institute, Programs for 50+ and Community Engagement at Ryerson University’s G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education, and the National Institute on Ageing to present Ageing Well: A Public Education Day to Support Healthy Ageing which gave older adults in our community the opportunity to learn what information is available to support them to maintain their independence and physical and cognitive function as they age.
Last Saturday, our full-day event at the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre at Ryerson University in downtown Toronto featured six lectures from health professionals and subject matter experts on a diverse range of topics, including managing medications, physical activity, understanding home and community care options, supports for mental health issues, advance care planning, and an overall approach to living longer and living well.
As Toronto’s population ages, there’s a growing demand from older Torontonians for high-quality evidence-based accurate information about healthy ageing and issues associated with ageing. The demand for this kind of public engagement and education was clear from the number of people who registered as well as by the robust and thoughtful discussion throughout the entire event. Almost 300 people from the Toronto community came out to our event and many came with questions for the expert presenters.
As the latest in a series of community engagement and public education events that The Walnut Foundation has presented, this event contributed to our reputation of giving community members the opportunity to benefit from the expertise of presenters who can speak to the issues that our community cares about.
Through our public education and community engagement events, we have been able to empower Canadians of all ages to take their health into their own hands by making informed decisions about their care. Providing people with accurate, reliable and useful health information can empower them to take responsibility for their health by using proactive strategies and encourage them to use health services and the health care system responsibly.
In addition to annual educational events such as Ageing Well, The Walnut Foundation also hosts forums for Black men to gain information about and support for health-related issues, illnesses and conditions that are of particular concern to them — prostate cancer, mental health, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and kidney disease, just to name a few.
Date modified: 2017-02-16
