Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney gives the keynote address at the announcement Tuesday. (Credit: Twitter.com/PhillyMayor)
The Ralston Center and its partners announced on Tuesday the launch of the “Age-Friendly West Philadelphia” initiative, a collaborative partnership two years in the making.
Services for West Philadelphia’s senior citizens are “plentiful,” but people don’t know where to look or whom to trust, said Ralston Center CEO Joseph Lukach. Ralston Center, a nearly 200-year-old organization dedicated to improving the health and quality of life of Philadelphia’s seniors, hopes to work with its 40-plus partners organizations — including the Penn Memory Center — to change that.
“Older West Philadelphians are more likely to live in poverty, to be obese or in poor health, and to face limitations with activities of daily living than older adults living elsewhere,” organizers wrote in the Ralston Center annual report.
After speaking with more than 150 older West Philadelphians to determine the community’s biggest needs, initiative leaders developed three committees to promote change:
— Age-Friendly Resource Network Navigation: “seeks to comprehensively address the need for increased access to, and navigation of, existing resources…through navigational assistance and educational programming”
— Food & Company: “will improve…access to fresh foods and nutritional resources while also providing increased opportunities for social connection”
— Age-Friendly Places: “concentrates on removing barriers…that prevent older adults from using neighborhood amenities”
In 2015, Penn Memory Center researchers conducted a community health mapping project in West Philadelphia. They found that few options for healthy eating, medical care, and exercise could be found within a walking distance of the mapped area, and uneven sidewalks posed a risk for seniors who dared to travel on foot.
Tigist Hailu, Penn Memory Center coordinator for diversity in research and education is a member of the Age-Friendly Places Committee. She will bring the findings from last year’s research to upcoming committee discussions.