Age-Friendly University Initiative

Description

DCU launched the Ten Principles of an Age-Friendly University in 2012 to inform age-friendly practices in higher education. In addition to a broad range of activities in DCU to provide opportunities for older people to engage in educational, research, wellness, social and cultural opportunities, the AFU initiative has been adopted by over 120 universities globally representing Europe, North and South America, South East Asia and Australia. At a national level, the AFU initiative is informed by the WHO Age-Friendly Cities thematic approach to ageing, the White Paper in Education, the EU Green Paper on Ageing and the Decade of Healthy Ageing. Over 2000 older people engage in activities at DCU – our Active for Life Programme hosts over 800 participants weekly for an exercise programme, over 400 participants engage in modules from the undergraduate and masters programmes, and another 600 have engaged this year in our Love of Lifelong Learning Programme which offers a range of customised learning opportunities from literature to history and genealogy to science. European-funded programmes (Traditions Recipes and Cuisines of Europe (TRACEUS) trained older people to use their Smartphones to make cookery/storytelling videos which can be curated on an EU platform. At the same time, the Culture on Prescription Project (COPE) focuses on social prescribing as a means of combatting social isolation and loneliness. DCU offers ongoing free 5-week IT/Smartphone classes delivered by our Master’s students. DCU AFU coordinates activities in Ireland for the Global Intergenerational Solidarity Week in April each year. DCU’s AFU participants are engaged in research projects in the School of Nursing (NEX multisensor project), the Business School, and the School of Human Performance as well as multidisciplinary activities across all three campuses. AFU participants are engaged in a broad variety of cultural activities and have produced three books from the creative writing programmes as well as artwork (Botanica Art, Making your Mark and Building Stories), drama, singing and printmaking. Participants are also involved in a host of intergenerational activities, including research projects, board games, life skills and mentoring. DCU was also the first Irish University to offer the Cycling without Age Programme in 2017 and has since supported the successful delivery of the programme in Fingal. Through the AFU initiative, DCU values and respects the contribution of older people to the cultural, social and economic capital of DCU. The AFU initiative places older people at the heart of DCU, which has demonstrated its commitment by resourcing a fully funded unit to advance age-friendly initiatives in higher education. Walkability audits of the DCU campus have resulted in considerable advances and changes to the public realm making the university more accessible and age-friendly. DCU AFU also hosts regular staff presentations on Caring for an Older Relative, the Assisted Decision Making Bill, The Fair Deal, the Menopause, Challenging Ageism and Bullying in the Workplace. DCU AFU is also a member of the AFE Innovate network and the Centre for Integrated Care at DCU. The Activities ensure the continued representation and development of age-friendly practices in DCU.
DCU is a founder member of the Covenant on Demographic Change, a member of the Global Coalition on Ageing, and has board representation on the Irish Senior Citizen Parliament, the Fingal Age-Friendly Alliance, the AGE Platform Europe and the International Federation on Ageing. DCU is recognised by the WHO as developing the Ten Principles of an Age-Friendly University and founding the AFU Global Network. For more information on our work please visit ww.dc.ie/age-friendly

Aim of Initiative

The aim of the initiative is to advance age-friendly practices in higher education through the Ten Principles of an Age-Friendly University.

To encourage the participation of older adults in all the core activities of the university, including educational and research programmes.
To promote personal and career development in the second half of life and to support those who wish to pursue “second careers”.
To recognise the range of educational needs of older adults (from those who were early school-leavers through to those who wish to pursue Master’s or PhD qualifications).
To promote intergenerational learning to facilitate the reciprocal sharing of expertise between learners of all ages.
To widen access to online educational opportunities for older adults to ensure a diversity of routes to participation.
To ensure that the university’s research agenda is informed by the needs of an ageing society and to promote public discourse on how higher education can better respond to the varied interests and needs of older adults.
To increase the understanding of students of the longevity dividend and the increasing complexity and richness that ageing brings to our society.
To enhance access for older adults to the university’s range of health and wellness programmes and its arts and cultural activities.
To engage actively with the university’s own retired community.
To ensure regular dialogue with organisations representing the interests of the ageing population.

The initiative promotes age inclusivity in higher education as well as supporting social inclusion and transforming lives and society which is at the heart of DCU’s mission.

Who is it aimed at

The AFU initiative encourages everyone to engage (staff/students/wider community) to participate actively and be treated with respect regardless of age.
The participant profile in DCU is over 55, and over 2000 order people engage with the initiative in DCU.

3 Steps critical to success

1. Support from Senior Management

   The AFU initiative is embedded in DCU policy as part of the strategic plan. It is resourced by DCU and supported under the widening participation remit.

2. A dedicated staff to support and drive the initiative which works within the strategic framework of DCU, fulfills requirements to satisfy national policy on lifelong learning, social inclusion and age-friendly practices.
3. Collaboration, mediation, negotiation and facilitation.
   Include as many as possible in the dialogue and break down barriers to engagement

3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery

1. Challenging attitudes and perceptions about what age-friendly means and its importance.
2. Ensuring that information is available in all formats to the right audience -how to engage the person isolated in the community or working all their lives and not a group member who may know about the age-friendly opportunities in DCU.
3. Time – there is so much going on at a local, national and international level finding time to ensure that participants are engaged and offered as many opportunities as possible is a challenge

3 Outcomes / Benefits

1. Continued growth and interest in the age-friendly university to provide opportunities for social inclusion and widen participation.
2. Tackling issues of isolation and loneliness and providing opportunities for intergenerational engagement, making new friendships, promoting lifelong learning and recognising older people as experts in ageing to inform product development and contribute to the silver economy
3. Challenging attitudes towards ageist stereotyping – when people sit side by side and face to face, they get to know the person and forget about age, it brings an intergenerational perspective to ageing.