Promoting Good Health in Older Age, Termonfeckin, Co. Louth, 27 March 2015
The European Parliament Information Office in Ireland and the ICA are jointly hosting a symposium on health issues and initiatives that are focussed on promoting good health in older age. The EU dimension will be outlined with contributions from community activists. The event will look at innovative solutions to challenges that rural communities in particular are facing. The event will begin at 2:00 pm and takes place in An Grianan, Termonfeckin, Co Louth on Friday 27 March. Registration required.
To register, email events-epdublin@ep.europa.eu or tel. (01) 605.79.00.
AGENDA
14.00 Refreshments and Registration
14.30 Welcome - Liz Wall, President of ICA
14.40 An Overview of What the EU is doing for Healthcare – Francis Jacobs, Head of European Parliament Office in Ireland
14.55 Rural Communities and the Challenges of Healthcare in Older Age – Mary Nally, Founder of Third Age
15.10 CAWT Cross-Border Initiatives – Sadie Bergin
15.25 An Innovative Solution: Louth Age-Friendly County Initiative – Rodd Bond
15.40 Questions and Answers
16.10 Closing Remarks – Francis Jacobs
16.15 Close
Speaker Biographies
Mary Nally
Rodd Bond
Rodd Bond. Rodd is programme director of the Netwell Centre, within the School of Health and Science at Dundalk Institute of Technology in Ireland. An architect by training, Rodd graduated with distinction from Oxford Brookes University in 1982 launching a career that has spanned hospital master planning and design (CRI Ltd, USA), spatial resource management (founder of FMW Ltd, Ireland) and ageing-and-place research (NetwellCasala). Rodd’s research and innovation interests are focussed on understanding the interrelationship between environmental structure and people’s health and wellbeing. Rodd has been very involved in the WHO’s age-friendly cities movement from its inception, and is committed to improving the quality of life for older people through place-centred innovation, service improvement and social innovation. Rodd has supported the European Commission and its partners in the development of the Action Plan for Innovations in Age-Friendly Buildings, Cities and Environments, within the European Innovation Partnership on Active & Healthy Ageing. Rodd has recently become the independent chair of the Louth Age-Friendly Alliance where his activity is very much at the intermediary interface between research, policy and practice, with a focus on implementation and impact. In 2015, Rodd co-authored the SEE-IT guide to Social Economic and Environmental Impact Assessment for Age-Friendly Environments within the European AFE thematic network project (AFE-INNOVNET).
The Louth Age-Friendly Counties Initiative. An Innovative Solution
Rodd will discuss the evolution of the Age-Friendly County programme in Co. Louth and how it is informing the development of the National Age-Friendly Counties initiative throughout Ireland. The movement towards an Age-Friendly Europe led by the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing, and with a vision framed by the 2013 Dublin Declaration on Age-Friendly Cities and Communities in Europe, will also be explored.