Supporting positive ageing

THE Mayor of Clare, Councillor Pat Hayes, this week signed the Dublin Declaration on Age Friendly Cities and Communities at a formal ceremony in City Hall, Dublin, as part of the first International Conference on Age Friendly Cities and Communities.

The aim of the declaration is to promote the importance of making communities more age friendly and is based on the eight areas identified by the World Health Organisation in its Global Age Friendly Communities guide.
“Ageing is a matter that affects us all.  In a world in which life expectancy is increasing, the need to prepare for the societal change is both urgent and timely.  Age friendliness is about seeing elderly people as a resource and not as a burden or liability.  I am very pleased that my colleagues in Clare County Council have supported the signing of this declaration.  Through Clare County Development Board, we have now initiated the process necessary for preparing a detailed strategy to help make our county an age friendly county in the future,” Councillor Hayes concluded.