Healthy Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities: The Need for Increased Collaboration Between Local Public Health Agencies and Municipal Government

Abstract

Naturally occurring retirement communities (NORCs) exist on a “health promoting” continuum in the extent to which they facilitate healthy aging. Some NORCs are healthier than others for seniors because their physical and social environments encourage activity and promote feelings of well-being. Municipal governments and public health agencies have different potential roles in developing healthy-NORCs. Municipal government responsibilities affect housing, transportation, green space, and zoning policies, which in turn affect the physical and built environment, a key senior-sensitive determinant of health. Public health agency responsibilities include population-based approaches to health promotion and chronic disease and injuries prevention through the encouragement of behaviors such as healthy eating and physical activity. Public health recognizes the importance of supportive environments, to which the built environment contributes. The gap between the responsibilities of public health and those of municipal government hinders the development of healthy-NORCs. Public health, although responsible for health promotion, has limited ability to influence the built environment. The municipal government is responsible for policy affecting the built environment, but health promotion is rarely considered in this exercise. Public policy aimed at facilitating healthy aging would be supported by increased collaboration between public health and municipal government.

KEYWORDS:

• health
• aging
• environment design
• local government
• local public health agency
• retirement
• public policy
• health promotion

The authors thank Lance Thurston for his contributions to this paper. Parts of this paper are based on a workshop grant funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.