Janice Monfries, Hayley Weedon-Westend Seniors Activity CenterCaroline Gee-Alberta Motor Association

Brenda Wong-City of Edmonton

June 22, 2011

San Francisco Conference 2011

HIGHLIGHTS The Senior’s conference in San Francisco was attended

by approximately four thousand delegates!

Sessions ran from 8:00 am -5:00 pm daily for almost 4 days.

Many streams of sessions to choose from - I chose the senior centre stream with a focus on senior centre management . As part of this stream, I also had the opportunity to connect with many senior centre professionals, including participating in peer groups/ and peer luncheons.

Managing a Senior Centre Things to Consider:

How Is Your Senior Center Perceived?

Do you operate your centre as a business?

What are the strategies you are using to ensure it’s success?

Do you really know your customer?

What are the latest trends and opportunities?

What is accreditation?

We’re doing things right in Edmonton!

The conference validated the great things we are doing in the seniors sector.

But it also highlighted areas for improvement.

There is a really energy and excitement about working in the Senior’s field.

You all know this is the largest growing

demographic – and we are the ones

forging the way.

Not Your Grandmother’s Senior Centre -Creating a 21st Century Model

How is your senior centre perceived?

Today’s senior centres must be multi-service, vibrant places - not only a place to gather but a place to gain skills, resources and connections to help respond to the personnel and community challenges that seniors face.

Focus on being a Seniors Wellness Centre – Ensure you have a sophisticated mind/body centered centre with evidenced based programs. These are pre-packaged programs that have been developed at leading edge universities.

Sheryl Fuller: Educational Alliance, USA

Change Perceptions from –Frail-takers to STRONG givers. “Senior centres are in a unique position to mobilize the

skills, talents and experiences of this important human resource.”

Are you fully utilizing your strength and your potential?

Opportunities (Are you attracting all different states of seniors?)

Facility Utilizations (Can you rent out your facility?)

Community Partners (Are you expanding your organization through strategic partnerships?)

Resource; Keeping Older Adults Engaged – Christine Beatty - Madison Senior Centre- Innovations Magazine

Business Planning 101-Senior Centres What does your strategic plan really look like? Is it useful? Do you

look at it every week?

Can you name your mission? – What does your organization do?

What is your vision? – When you close your eyes, what is the mental vision of your center?

List your values – What do you stand for?

Have you completed a comprehensive analysis of your organization? You need to analyze what you do, who you do it for, how much it costs and how you plan to achieve and maintain success.

Resource: www.crossroadsncoa.org

Do you Know what a Portfolio Analysis or a Cluster Analysis is? “An analysis of elements of a company’s product mix to determine the

optimum allocation of its resources.” You may not need to understand the terms – but you

have to understand the need for quality business analysis of your programs.

Your senior centre is a business! It’s time for senior centre to adopt professional

business models and project themselves this way rather then the image of fragility and charity.

If you don’t have the skills on hand – hire out this service.

City of Edmonton-Senior Centre Plan -Statistics

During the Senior Centre plan, centres were asked to report:

Hours of Operation

Number of seniors per day

Number of hours facility is rented out

Geographic location of our seniors

Did you use those statistics to help you in your planning

What is your NORTH STAR? What draws people into your centre?

Finish this sentence… “Our centre is the place to be for…….”

What sets you apart from other senior centres? What are your competencies?

You need to create a sense of ownership, My Life, My Time, My Way – it’s my senior centre

Resource: The Central: www.centralareasseniorcenter.org

Resource: Jill Jackson Ledford jjacksonledford@gmail.com

Latest trends in Senior Centres You must focus on the different strata's of seniors:

GI generation-Senior Seniors (war generation – seniors 85 and up)

Silent/Bridge /middle age seniors (72 and up)

Baby boomers

The Senior Seniors Not all seniors can make it to the centres so begin

“Senior Centres without Walls”-A telephone community for Elders.

This program utilizes the telephone to engage isolated seniors with each other.

Activities include:

Book group / Armchair travellers/health discussions/brain aerobics/supports groups and more.

Resource: Senior Centre Without Walls infor@SeniorCenterWithoutWalls.org

How Does it Work? 1. Participants are given monthly schedule of events.

2. Participants register for their selected sessions by phone

3. If necessary material can be sent out to the participants prior to the activity or class

4. Participants are given a conference call number and a code number to connect them to the chosen classes at the specified time.

Include Drop in Activities : Talent shows; chat sessions; bingo games.

“Senior centre without walls – has removed the walls between myself and other seniors.”

“You get isolated when you’re homebound. But now I have a contact with the world again, and I’m developing interests I never knew I had”.

Notable 90’s Addressing Advanced Age in a Senior Centre

These are some common issues affecting older seniors in a senior centre:

Difficulty hearing

Physical limitations in mobility

Mental Diminishment

Support groups/supportive circles are the recommended activity based on research conducted by B.C. senior centre

Resource: Lesley Cole Manager – lcole@newwestcity.ca – New Westminister. B.C.

Considerations for Older Programming Members are called two days prior to remind them

Participants do pay for coffee and goodies – but these are ready when they come

Routine and continuity is crucial

Cordless mic is used to help address hearing challenges (used as a talking stick).

Each member is given a coloured paper “flag” bookmark size – use to indicate inability to hear.

There are 3 skilled volunteer facilitators (trained senior peer counsellors) at each meeting.

Middle - Senior Age (72+) Important to include evidenced based programs.

Why? They have demonstrated effectiveness.

They are known to make a real impact of senior’s health and well being.

There are many that are chronic pain based such as from the Arthritis Foundation. (eg.Standing up one foot forward)

These programs are easy to facilitate because they usually come with training guides.

Baby Boomers-They have started to arrive!

This age group will challenge the senior centres the most!

They won’t accept the “old” senior centres”

They will be very selective in their involvement

They will want to be involved in decision making

They will be intolerant of age-related labels.

They will want to be challenged

They will want to network

Examples of Baby Boomer Programs Beer Making

Wine Tasting

Investment Club

Brain Fitness

Travel clubs

**Brain Fitness – most alarming and important area for programming. Increased incidence of mental diminishment – requires effective brain fitness programs.

Resource: Opportunity Knocks – K.Jean Williams –kjeanwill@aol.com

Accreditation of Senior Centre In the United States, senior centre can apply to be

accredited. To advance the quality of senior centers nationwide, NISC

(National Institute of Senior Centres) has developed nine standards of excellence for senior center operations. These standards serve as a guide for all senior centers to improve their operations today — and position themselves for the future. – two components – self assessment and peer review.

This is not unlike the Core Services that the City of Edmonton identified in their Senior Centre plan The intent is to provide high standards of service for

seniors. Resource: Senior Center Accreditation – Dianne Stone – Newington Senior Center – Innovations

Magazine

Senior Centres “Senior centres are not places just where older

adults come to fill time. Senior centres are a connection to a new direction in life.”

Bob Pitman – Exec. Director -Senior Center Services of Bartholomew County, IN

SENIOR CENTRES; EVOLVING TO THRIVE

Thank you

Janice Monfries-Executive Director –

Westend Seniors Activity Centre