By John Evernden, Independent Living Centre NSW
“I don’t go to the cemetery any more, I can’t get on and off the buses!”
How often do we hear older people lament what they can do no longer?
“I don’t go to the theatre any more, I can’t climb up the steps!”
“I don’t go to the shops any more, I’m afraid to cross the road!”
We may all face these physical and mental barriers to our regular lifestyle, one day. Yet, for the most part, the barriers are not of our own making. They are created by those who design, furnish and maintain the built environment. As the population ages the challenge for the designers is to re-create a public domain that allows people of all ages and abilities to continue their preferred lifestyle.
These are the opening paragraphs of a paper presented at the International Federation on Ageing’s (IFA) 9th Global Conference in Canada in September 2008.
The paper, entitled “The You’re Welcome Project – Designing an Age-friendly Public Domain”, was presented by John Evernden, the Program Manager. John is an Accredited Access Consultant with the Independent Living Centre NSW (ILC NSW).
As an Access Consultant, John audits drawings, buildings and public spaces for their compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act (1992) and Australian Standards, as they relate to the provision of equitable access for older people and people with disabilities.
Physical access through the built environment does not usually feature in discussions on aged care. However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is so concerned at the impact of the physical environment on people’s well-being that it developed guidelines to encourage cities to become more age-friendly.
The WHO guidelines state that, “In practical terms, an age-friendly city adapts its structures and services to be accessible to and inclusive of older people with varying needs and capacities”.
Aware of the need to bring together the fields of ageing and civic design, Canadian partners of the IFA created a non-government organisation called Ageing Design Montreal (ADM), with its headquarters in that City. It was ADM that staged the IFA’s Conference in Montreal in September, and John Evernden’s paper fitted neatly into one of the conference themes, “The impact of design on participation”.
By applying an access auditing approach to the public domain, John is able to demonstrate how features that many people take for granted actually create difficulties for others. For example, kerb ramps provide access from the footway to the roadway for people who use wheelchairs and parents with strollers but, if the ramps do not meet Australian Standards, they can create hazards for people with impaired vision and cognitive disabilities who rely on kerb ramps to help with their ‘wayfinding’.
The application of access auditing to the public domain is not new, but it provides an interesting challenge to the authorities that design, furnish and maintain our public spaces. In Australia, the authorities that are responsible for the greater part of the public domain are Local Councils.
Other issues addressed by the “You’re Welcome” project include the design of Bus Stops to meet the Accessible Transport Standards; the provision of street furniture (seating, bubblers) that meets access standards; the provision of adequate signage to assist wayfinding; and the selection of paving materials that reduce the risk of slipping and stumbling.
The need for effective footway maintenance, an issue well known to people of all ages, is also addressed by the project, and emphasised by the WHO guidelines. As John Evernden says, “Good maintenance is an exercise in Falls Prevention”.
The “You’re Welcome” project is funded by the Department of Community Services (NSW) Area Assistance Scheme, to help strengthen communities. It is focussed on the eleven Local Government areas within the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils, known as WSROC. Its aim is to help create a fully accessible, age-friendly environment and builds on recommendations of the National Speakers Series held by the Australian Department of Health and Ageing in 2006.
For information about the “You’re Welcome” project, please contact John Evernden at the Independent Living Centre NSW, on telephone (02) 9890-0991 or by email on accessteam@ilcnsw.asn.au.