Next Steps Through engagement of the plus 55 community and their stakeholders, the Plus 55 Community Project has been an initial step in the right direction towards an Age-Friendly Esperance Community. Despite only a sample group of the plus 55 population providing input, the information was significantly valuable and almost entirely correlates to the age-friendly checklist based on international research, refer to the appendicies. Furthermore the strategies identified in this report align with the strategies in the Shire of Esperance Community Strategic Plan 2012-2022 in turn supporting the continued relevance and application of the Community Strategic Plan. It is important to note that the progression of any (or all) of the strategies cannot be guaranteed as there are many steps including responsibility and ownership, resource allocations, partnership development, prioritisation, feasibility and cost versus benefit analysis (etc.); all essential elements to making decisions about level of need and viability of each. Some strategies will require further investigation and research and others may be used as a source of reference for current or upcoming projects, therefore the implementation may not be completely obvious.
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Furthermore the report strategies are not the role or responsibility of one single stakeholder but rather a mix of stakeholders including the Shire, other agencies and the community itself. Hence communications, information sharing, ongoing engagement, partnerships and working together on shared goals are essential to support any further stages of the project. Essentially these strategies are important to the plus 55 population to support active aging with the capacity to creating a better future for all members of the community; thus worth consideration of all stakeholders whom invest in Esperance and its future.
