Comprehensive Plan for Serving the Older Adult Community

March 7, 2016

Plan Approved

On April 26, 2014, the Columbia Association Board of Directors approved “Community for a Lifetime: Columbia Association’s Comprehensive Plan for Serving the Older Adult Community” as the guiding framework for CA’s ongoing efforts to continuously enhance programs and services for Columbia’s growing older adult community. Progress on implementation will be reported annually.

Community for a Lifetime – Final (May 2014)
Community for a Lifetime – Technical Appendix

What is Columbia Association seeking to accomplish?

Columbia Association (CA) is looking into how best to serve the older adult community in the future as its population grows, potentially evolving the programs and services that CA offers for older adults.

Demographic and census data show that the older adult population is the fastest growing segment of the community. CA wants to make sure that it has the right programs and the right services available.

Will this focus on older adults come at the expense of other groups?

No. CA understands that there are lots of segments of the community that it needs to serve well, and has long sought to serve as part of its mission of making Columbia a great place to live, work, play, learn and grow.

What will the process entail?

CA has brought together a work team that includes CA staff, a village community association representative and members of CA’s Senior Advisory Committee. It will also be consulting with local experts on serving older adults, including community agencies and medical experts.

CA will be examining local, regional and national best practices and trends relating to the aging population or that impact older adults; documenting CA’s and the county’s services, facilities and programs that serve older adults, and the marketing and promotion of these; and then looking at developing new programs and amenities in the county for older adults seeking to age in place based on this analysis.

This will ultimately lead to a draft of a plan recommending how to enhance and promote CA’s programs, facilities and services, while also prioritizing any potential changes. This plan would come before the community and the CA Board of Directors for input before implementation.

How can I get involved?

The meetings of the work team are open to the public, and there will be other opportunities for public participation as well, which will be announced in the future.