Seniors on the Move: Integrating Our Elderly Into the Heart of Community

Abstract

This thesis addresses society’s stance regarding the position our seniors hold within our Canadian communities. Given the predicted rise of the senior population, this thesis will focus on the province that will be hardest hit by this crisis: New Brunswick. As seniors progress in age, they move from the mainstream of our populace into secluded outpost communities based on scales of required levels of care. From retirement communities for the weathy, to the status quo Longterm Care facility, I will show that these models reflect the common thread of removing our elderly from the social centers of our communities and condemning them to lives of isolation and feelings of uselessness. For the town of St. Stephen, NB, this thesis proposes an urban strategy that improves age-friendly circulation, a town plaza framed by the proposed Multi-Generational Community Center, and Senior’s Housing surrounded by community gardens. This thesis aims to highlight the benefits that the aging demographic of our communities have for rejuvenating, promoting and securing positive community growth. Our elderly belong at the center of our society and they have an important role of sharing their vast array of skills and promoting unique local culture that is being far too quickly lost.