News and Highlights
Find our announcements, reports, blogs, newsletters, videos, and other updates by HelpAge Canada and leading partners in aging to share and grow your awareness of the needs of older people in Canada and around the world. Explore our wide range resources below.
Recent Highlights
Read our latest newsletter
Explore our 2023 Impact Report
Learn about our humanitarian work
Spring 2022 - Ageism is REAL
“Ageism is REAL. Right under our noses. It is so normalized that we don’t even notice…the narratives on aging and of older people that are part of our very language…” Read more
Winter 2022 - Dedicated to the Idea
“By 2050, almost 20% of the world’s population will be over 65, and in modern or developed countries like Canada this number could be as high as one in three or even one in two people…” Read more
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Stories & Campaigns
Ethiopia
In January 2020, HelpAge conducted a Rapid Needs Assessment in Gambella, which highlighted key concerns: older people with specific needs in Ethiopia have very limited access to food, healthcare, clean water, and sanitation.
Türkiye
In the early hours, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Türkiye and northern Syria, destroying hundreds of buildings, and killing tens of thousands of people – a number that will continue to rise as recovery efforts continue. Freezing temperatures present an added layer of danger and complexity to the crisis.
Trips to Africa
In 2021, HelpAge Canada’s Executive Director, Gregor Sneddon embarked on several trips to Africa, visiting communities in Kenya and Ethiopia, which are areas part of the HAC global programming reach, to witness HAC’s impact firsthand.
Older people in Eastern Ukraine
Eastern Ukraine is facing sub-zero conditions and heavily shelled areas, and older people living there desperately need food, clean drinking water, and medication. Read the first-hand accounts of the struggles impacting older people amidst the war.
Read past campaigns and stories
Videos
Thank you
HAC’s Executive Director gives heart-felt thanks to the outpouring of support for Ukraine’s older people facing war.
Nourishing a community
Jenna Smith, Executive Director, Innovation Jeunes, shares the impact of HelpAge Canada’s program on older newcomers in Montreal.
Sponsor a Grandparent program in Ethiopia
Project Officer, Bezawit Alemayehu Abera, details her work with Eneredada Elder People Association in Ethiopia where HelpAge Canada offers its Sponsor a Grandparent program.
In the Media
Canadians lacking digital literacy left behind as world becomes more dependent on technology
– National Post, December 30, 2022
Celebrating 2022’s Achievements in Aging and Longevity and a Look at What’s Next
– You Are UNLTD, December 20, 2022
With rentals scarce, a program that houses students with seniors is growing fast
– University Affairs, September 13, 2022
Seniors and students become housemates as rents soar
– Moneywise.ca, August 26, 2022
Free computer training and tools come to local seniors
– Langley Advance Times, July 15, 2022
Additional Canadian support for Ukraine announced at 2022 G7 Summit
– Prime Minister of Canada, June 28, 2022
100 days of the Russia-Ukraine war
– Al Jazeera, June 3, 2022
New program hopes to improve digital literacy skills for older Nunavummiut
– CBC News, September 17, 2021
Reports & Resources
National Seniors Council
Seniors Well-Being in Canada: Building on Lessons Learned from the Pandemic contains 22 recommendations in support of seniors’ health and well-being within the full continuum of support and care. The Council based its advice on a review of over 40 national and international reports.
Guide for CBSS organizations
Turn your community into a great place to grow older. The “Let’s Go” guide provides ideas and guidance on how to engage with older people and improve communities for all ages. Available in English and Spanish.
Mental Health Commission of Canada
With our growing seniors population, mental health problems and illnesses among older adults are likely to affect every family. If not addressed, the increasing pressure on the health-care system will have significant social and economic impacts. Guidelines, tools, courses, factsheets, and more available on the Commission’s page dedicated to older adults.
Strengthening older people’s voices
HelpAge works within a voice-centered framework that guides our planning and action to ensure older people are heard at local, national and global levels. Read the ‘HelpAge Voice framework: An introduction’ to find out more about the tools needed to change the way older people’s voices are heard by decision-makers at different levels.
Older people on the edge of survival in eastern Ukraine - March 4, 2022
Older people living in sub-zero conditions and heavily shelled areas of Eastern Ukraine desperately need food, clean drinking water and medication, according to a survey released today. The survey taken by HelpAge International staff and volunteers offers a glimpse of the conditions older people in the oblasts of Donetsk and Luhansk are already facing.
2021 Report - ‘Are older people’s voices being heard?’
Highlights the challenges older people face in exercising their voice throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. It also contains useful learning for organizations to strengthen activities that ensure older people are heard at all levels.
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