The territory is “in a good position” to help Yukoners find the right fit in determining where they will live as they age, says an expert on aging.

“You don’t have huge numbers of people,” Norah Keating, a social gerontologist, told reporters Wednesday in Whitehorse.

“People know one another. You’ve got a government that seems committed to making places the best possible places for people to grow old.”

Keating spoke following her presentation to an estimated 200 people at Wednesday’s one-day Summit on Aging in the Yukon.

The gathering was held in the morning ahead of the city’s annual Senior’s Tea in the afternoon. It marked the beginning of a lengthy engagement process aimed at hearing from Yukoners on aging.

The public engagement will continue until November. Other initiatives will include surveys, written comments, community tours and more.

There will also be engagement initiatives with residents of continuing care facilities and home care clients; First Nations and municipal governments; and government employees who work with older adults.

Keating is a co-director of research on aging, policies and practice at the University of Alberta, along with a number of other professional roles held internationally.

She addressed the crowd prior to small group discussions on what aging in place means and what would enhance aging well in the Yukon.

While the territory seems to be in a good position to help its citizens age well, Keating noted there are challenges in delivering services, given the small population and distances between communities.

She challenged those attending the summit at the Coast High Country Inn to consider the title of her presentation: If Aging In Place Is The Answer, What Is The Question?

Speaking of the aging baby boomer population, Keating noted it was a generation that was welcomed to the world after the Second World War, that schools were built for, that went on to work and create jobs and contribute to the economy.

Now, in some places, it is a generation that is seen as a problem, Keating told the audience.

“We’re not going to put up with that,” she said, going on to note the research work she has done around the world on aging populations.

It is through her work Keating has come to learn that what people need as they get older boils down to three main things:

• health that is good enough to do the things that is important to a person;

• wealth that is good enough to provide an individual with his or her basic needs and maybe a little extra to see family members who live away; and

• finally, someone important to love, be it a partner, child, old friend or relative.

“We each have a version of (what’s important),” Keating said, adding comments she’s heard in her research.

As one older man who was having trouble finding an assisted-living facility told her, all he needed was a warm bed and food in his belly.

While aging in place is a term that is often promoted, Keating pointed out, its definition varies, depending on who you talk to.

Some may define it as living in a person’s home community, with some help without having to go into care. Others see it as the ability to live in one’s home and community safely and independently, regardless of ability.

For Keating and some of her colleagues, it has become a metaphor for the benefits that may accrue for individuals who are able to live in their communities. There’s a sense of belonging and such from that community, and from those related benefits.

It’s not only the needs of people that change as they get older, but the places, Keating said.

She cited communities in the U.K. where, over the last 30 years, waves of immigrants have settled, opening new businesses.

Those who grew up in the neighbourhood were aging in their community, yet that place has changed dramatically around them.

A Maritimes community in which she worked with seniors is in decline. As one woman told her, the trains and the buses no longer come in, and soon, it seems, the tide will no longer come in.

As yet another example, Keating pointed to a community outside Toronto which has seen a huge change in demographics as it’s drawn many retirees from the city.

The growth has resulted in a huge increase to property taxes. Many of those who have resided there for years who are on a fixed income can no longer afford to live there.

“Places change, people change and the challenge is to find the best fit between people and places as all of us change (as we age),” she said.

As she wrapped up her presentation, Keating encouraged those at the summit to consider the idea – which she credited to the World Health Organization – that healthy aging is being able to be and do what you value.

See more on the summit in Friday’s Star.