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Municipal Staff & Partners

Older Adults in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark Review

The “Older Adults of Leeds, Grenville and Lanark” A Review by Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit, is an assessment of the services and supportive factors available or needed for older adults in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark that will help maintain the health of older adults and make our communities more age friendly. We have organized this information using the WHO Global Age-Friendly Cities report themes.

This report is designed to be used as a tool to support the work of community stakeholders to:

  • support program development
    • assist with prioritization of work and programming
    • be used as a tool for writing reports, letters of support, proposals.
    • be used in part (e.g., by theme) or as a whole for an overall Age Friendly approach.

Please note: The pandemic occurred at the very last stages of developing this review. We had to pause this work for 3 years but feel this information collected prior to 2020 is still valuable.  We made minor updates, but this information does not reflect the impact of the pandemic specifically.

Climate Change Action

Municipalities play a major role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. There are many resources available to support municipalities with mitigation and adaptation actions. See the resources below and contact your Municipal Public Health Nurse Liaison at [email protected] to consult on climate change planning.

Event Planning

For resources on planning a healthy, safe, and welcoming event, visit the Event Organizers page of the Health Unit website.

Building Healthy Communities

Where people live has as much influence on health as how they live. We work with our municipalities and community organizations to ensure individuals and families live in healthy vibrant communities with a natural environment and “public realm” that support health, quality of life and prevent health problems. A healthy vibrant community is designed to promote:

  • Adaptation and mitigation of our changing climate
  • Safe routes for active transportation to work, school, shopping, social activities and home
  • Access to parks and other amenities
  • Opportunities for recreation
  • Access to jobs, services, and healthcare
  • Opportunities for positive social interaction
  • Spaces that encourage mental well-being
  • Access to outdoor spaces for all ages and abilities for play and transportation
  • Access to outdoor spaces for play and transportation for all ages and abilities
  • Access to healthy food
  • Opportunities for aging in place
  • Opportunities to be physically active
  • Clean air and water quality

As a municipal leader, staff member, or partner, you play an important role in creating a community setting that supports health. Here, we offer information to support you on a variety of public health topics that pertain to municipalities. Review topics within this section of our website to learn more and to access resources related to each topic.

The public realm is defined as the publicly owned places and spaces that belong to and are accessible by everyone. These can include municipal streets, lanes, plazas, sidewalks, trails, parks, open spaces, schools, waterfronts, public transit systems, conservation areas, and civic buildings and institutions. It can be a passive environment, such as sitting at a cafe, or an active environment, such as cycling in a bike lane, or a combination of both. It can also be an interior space such as a library or a recreation centre, or an exterior space such as a multi-purpose trail or a public square.

Reference:

Ontario Professional Planners Institute: Healthy Communities and Planning for the Public Realm

The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit’s staff works in partnership with municipalities and community partners to create healthy and supportive environments.

Each municipality has an assigned Public Health Nurse (PHN) who works in the municipality’s geographic area. The Municipal PHN Liaison (Municipal PHN) is a health knowledge broker, capacity builder, facilitator, and champion for health in the community. The Municipal PHN can assist municipalities to identify strengths and health concerns in order to build healthier environments. More specifically, the ways the Municipal PHN can assist municipalities include to:

  • Help navigate the Health Unit’s resources and services
  • Provide consultations and resources
  • Support existing and emerging committees, policies, and practices that contribute to Climate Change Planning, Health Equity, Active Transportation, Built Environment, Healthy Eating, Injury Prevention, and Community Prevention of Problematic Substance Use through effective comprehensive, health promotion interventions
  • Connect to services funding opportunities and programs offered by other community partners/agencies.
  • Raise awareness and support community wide initiatives that impact the health of the community
  • Take part in community consultations and provide comments
  • Support with attaining community designations (e.g., Bike Friendly, Age Friendly, Youth Friendly, Walk Friendly)
  • Support existing and emerging Municipal Drug Strategies (MDS) and alcohol strategies
  • Assist with gathering community best practices, research, information and resources as well as collaborating with municipalities and the community regarding awareness and education

The Municipal PHN can also facilitate consultations with a Public Health Nutritionist, a Health Promoter, the Smoke-Free Ontario (SFO) Team, and other Public Health professionals.

The SFO team can support municipalities in Leeds, Grenville & Lanark as they can:

  • Conduct inspections, providing signage, etc. to the municipalities, as a workplace, to ensure compliance with the Smoke-Free Ontario Act (SFOA)
  • Ensure municipal public places like parks, play structures, municipal recreation facilities and sports fields are signed and comply with the SFOA. Municipalities are encouraged to visit our website to order signs.
  • Support you to adopt bylaws that mirror or expand upon the SFOA in order to:
    • Further protect residents from second-hand smoke & vapour exposure;
    • Indirectly encourage cessation;
    • Reduce cigarette butt litter; and
    • Bolster enforcement through supporting municipal bylaw enforcement officers.
  • Encourage additional policies to help protect from second-hand smoke (e.g., housing policies)
  • Support workplace cessation efforts and provide Nicotine Replacement Therapy.

For more information on how the Smoke-Free Ontario team can support your municipality, visit our Smoking/Vaping webpage.

Together we can create healthier communities!

Get Youth Involved

Invite youth to work with communities and municipalities to share their ideas. Help to create youth friendly environments, promote youth engagement and positive youth development. Ensure policies, infrastructure and programming include youth, not only as a target, but also as leaders and advocates. The Youth Strategy Framework for Leeds, Grenville and Lanark is a road map to help guide, focus, and maximize collaborative actions to support the development of healthy, caring, responsible, and resilient youth.

For more information on supporting youth in your community visit the Alcohol, Cannabis & Drugs page.

Contact your Municipal PHN if you would like support with your youth friendly community efforts.

Municipal/Public Health Unit Meeting Summaries

Leeds, Grenville and Lanark Municipal/Public Health Call Summary – February 23, 2024

Municipal PHN Liaison Role Presentation

Leeds, Grenville and Lanark Municipal/Public Health Call Summary – January 19, 2024

Presentation Climate Change and Health

Leeds, Grenville and Lanark Municipal/Public Health Call Summary – November 10, 2023

Presentation of Older Adult Review for Health Unit Zoom call with Municipalities 2023

Recap of Municipal Public Health Networking Call – September 15, 2023

Substance Use and Addictions Prevention (SUAP) Service Providers Focus Groups Summary 2022

LGLDHU Drug Overdose Summary (2017-2022)

Opioid & Suspect Drug-Related Deaths Summaries (LGLDHU)

Community Drug Poisoning Response Plan – September 2023

Recap of Municipal Public Health Networking Call – May 12, 2023

Recap of Municipal Public Health Networking Call – April 14, 2023

Related Links