Aging with Dignity
The Issue
A large percentage of the American population is part of the “sandwich generation” – people who care for their elderly parents while also raising their own children. Inspired by conversations about the unique needs and responsibilities that come with caring for an elderly parent or relative, The Family and Youth Institute is committed to helping communities understand and meet the growing needs of elders.
Project Overview
This project is a community empowerment initiative to promote healthy aging among Michigan Muslim in Canton, MI and will serve as a template for other communities across the nation. There is no existing network of individuals, organizations or businesses to promote healthy aging in Muslim communities. This project will create a network of local businesses, health care providers, community and religious organizations, older adults and their caregivers to promote health aging within community contexts.
This project will create an asset map of culturally competent resources and services for Older Muslim adults. The process will also form a community-based network of 50 stakeholders and encourage partnerships between businesses, organizations, institutions, and individuals interested in promoting healthy aging among Muslim Americans. These collaborations and project outcomes are expected to be a powerful tool to make a case for needed funding, resources, and policy locally and on a state level.
This project was made possible through the support of the Michigan Health Endowment Fund. All praises are due to Allah (God) for allowing us to serve the ummah.
Project Activities
- Summarize the latest research on aging Muslim adults.
- Recruit local advisory group to help identify community stakeholders with diverse experiences, awareness of resources, and backgrounds.
- Stakeholders will identify and provide information about the community’s assets, status, condition, behavior, knowledge, or resources that support the thriving community of older adults and their caregivers.
- Using input from stakeholders, an asset map will identify proven community-based resources and solutions for Older Muslim adults. It will also idenitfy barriers to accessing these assets.
- The learnings from the participatory asset mapping will be turned into actionable knowledge and shared statewide. We will facilitate the replication and expansion of proven approaches, partnering with other communities to scale these best practices.
Updates
The FYI seeks a Project Manager to lead The FYI’s Supporting Older Muslim Adults project. This project will create an Asset Map of resources for elderly Muslims living in Canton, MI. This project will work with older adults, caregivers, and community members to identify our cultural and religious assets, gaps, and needs to support the thriving of older adults and their caregivers.
Feedback
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