Inclusive approaches in age-friendly cities in focus at the Nordic Day

The Nordic Day was hosted by the Nordic Welfare Centre and held on June 25 in conjunction with the European Social Services Conference in Antwerp in Belgium. During the Nordic Day examples of co-creation of social services from age-friendly cities and communities were presented and discussed.

– Co-creation is a strong foundation in age-friendly societies. This entails listening to diverse voices and making sure we really do include all, also older people in more vulnerable life situations such as older people who live the later part of their life as immigrants in a country that may be very different than their country of origin, says Louise Scheel Thomasen, Senior Adviser at the Nordic Welfare Centre.

Older people with a migrant background experience more health issues and have a higher risk of loneliness and poverty than peers with a non-migrant background.

–Creating socially integrated societies and working towards equal access to health and welfare services means we need to pay special attention to some target groups such as these, says Scheel Thomasen.

Reducing the gap between municipality and citizens

The Nordic Welfare Centre coordinates the Nordic network for age-friendly cities and communities. The Nordic cities in the network are members of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global network, Age-friendly cities and communities.

During the event some cities from the Nordic network presented good examples of inclusion and co-creation of social services with older adults with migrant background.

In Oslo, Norway, the Communication compass helps the city reach older people with a migrant background in a systematic way via networks and local key persons, tapping into the resources of the migrant population, older as younger. The Covid-19 pandemic made it clear that the municipality had difficulties reaching older people with a migrant background with preventive and health promoting services. The communication compass was developed in collaboration with students from four universities in Oslo to bridge this gap.

In Uppsala, Sweden, outreach work in local areas have helped increase participation from older people with a migrant background in social, cultural and physical activities at the city’s meeting points. Kenny Jansson, coordinator for Age-friendly Uppsala, talked about reducing the gap between the municipal organization in Uppsala and target groups such as older adults with a migrant background.

– I wanted to invite the audience to reflect upon the importance of interpersonal contact and civic virtue in developing flatter, more agile organizations; more cross-sectoral collaborations and fostering more adaptive cultures more apt for the age-friendly communities of tomorrow, says Kenny Jansson.

He also emphasises that older adults are resourceful parts of the solution, migrant background or not.

– With more agile organizations and a more civic culture Nordic municipalities, I believe, will improve their ability to connect with people where they are and on their terms. The migrant background is not the main issue here. How we organize and cultivate our municipalities is.

Solve the right problem

Another angle on the theme co-creation of social services was given by the Danish Social Innovation Specialist Asim Latif. He talked about the importance of solving the right problem and how effectful it is to involve the target group from the beginning in a structured manner.

– We must engage older adults with a migrant background by involving them in the beginning and already in the phase, where we decide on what are the challenges. Ask them for their help and facilitate them in giving inputs to both challenges and solutions.

As an example of an initiative, Latif mentions Fonden for Socialt Ansvar (Foundation for Social Responsibility) and the Center for Dementia in Copenhagen Municipality. They designed and developed a group for relatives of older adults with migrant background with dementia.

– Now the Center for Dementia has insight in the key issues and key holders and hence can provide better services to the migrant community suffering with dementia. The group is a concrete outcome of collaboration with the target group and a result of involving the ethnic minorities in problem solving, says Latif.

Towards sustainable and age-friendly societies

The co-creation of social services with older people and across sectors is an integral part of developing inclusive sustainable and age-friendly cities. Socially integrated and sustainable societies are not just created for, but together with citizens. Co-creation with diverse target groups opens questions of how to best reach different groups and in what ways to include and co-create in a respectful, sustainable and productive way.

– The Nordic Day highlighted the importance of meeting people locally with an open mind, building trust and making sure co-creation starts at the very beginning. We have much to gain in the Nordic countries from learning from each other and building on the good examples of co-creation and inclusion across the region, says Louise Scheel Thomasen.