Age-Friendly Cities and Older Indigenous People: An Exploratory Study

Cities around the world are developing Age-Friendly Communities plans, following the World Health Organization’s guidelines. We recently had a conversation with ten older First Nations and Métis women in the city of Prince George, Canada, comparing the expressed needs of these women with two age-friendly action plans: that of the city of Prince George, and that of the Northern Health Authority. Findings indicate four main areas of concern for these women: availability of health care services; accessibility and affordability of programs and services; special roles of Indigenous older people; and experiences of racism and discrimination. There are many areas of synergy between the needs expressed by the women and the two action plans; however, certain key areas are missing from the action plans; in particular, specific strategies for attending to the needs of Indigenous and other older populations that are often marginalized in health care and in age-friendly planning.