Step 4.1 – Make an action plan
However big or small your age friendly plan is, you’ll need to work out when projects can be undertaken and who will oversee them.
Plan your projects
Actions should flow from the priorities established during the community assessments and can be big or small. Do not be worried about starting small, as small things can make big differences in people’s lives.
To reduce your workload, think about what resources are already available. For example, consider using existing age friendly templates and adapt these to the local context rather than creating something entirely new.
Develop a schedule
When developing the schedule for your age friendly plan, keep in mind that you won’t be able to do everything you want to all at once.
Prioritise your work and consider a range of initiatives, from projects that can be implemented quickly and easily at low or no cost, to more complex initiatives involving multiple parties and requiring funding.
Identify when you expect the different parts of your action plan to be completed. Create a timeline to demonstrate how all the pieces of this work link together and to help you with project planning.
Identify any funding available through grants and/or your local council or district health board, and when it would be available for your project. Not all funding will be available at the same time so plan around this.
Costs can be high during the implementation phase and implementation delays are not uncommon. They can happen for many reasons.
Monitoring the implementation of the project and keeping good notes will enable you to reflect on the process and improve delivery for next time. This documentation will be important for identifying lessons learnt when you evaluate your implementation process.
Assign responsibilities
An age friendly plan might be overseen by one responsible person or team, with projects or priority areas led by communities, not-for-profit organisations, charities, local councils and central government.
Having older people lead and directly participate in age friendly projects aligns with a community led development approach and is key to their success.