English

Abstract

Senior cohousing creates socially, financially, and environmentally sustainable communities for the second half of life. Common facilities include housing for a caregiver whom residents hire as needed. Members provide mutual assistance for each other (co-caring) that encourages wellbeing and aging in place. Like multi-generational cohousing these are intentionally cooperative neighbourhoods where each household owns its small but complete home and spacious common facilities are shared. Well-established in Europe, senior cohousing is new to North America and the UK. This paper focuses on Harbourside Cohousing under development in Sooke, BC, and on the innovative Royal Roads University course that attracts new members to the cohousing and raises awareness of aging options in the larger community. Harbourside will be the second senior cohousing in Canada, the first with a care-giver suite, and the first to require a short course on Aging Well in Community as a prerequisite for membership. Experiential learning in the course helps people to get out of denial about growing older. They explore how cocaring can ensure social connection with their community and help them stay in cohousing and out of institutional care as they age. They become a force for change in the larger society redefining aging and elder housing. Co-caring is a grassroots model of neighbourly mutual support that can help reduce social isolation and promote positive, active aging. It encourages independence through awareness that we are all interdependent. In a senior cohousing community, giving and receiving cocare is entirely voluntary. Members may choose to support each other through such activities as doing errands, driving, cooking, or going for a walk with a neighbour. Being good neighbours helps people age well in community and have fun doing it! The course on aging well in community and the participatory development process at Harbourside are creating community two years before move-in. The paper concludes with lessons learned from this prototype and suggests how to begin scaling up senior cohousing as� a� radical� social� innovation� to� respond� to� the� ‘silver� tsunami’� of� aging� baby� boomers.