Jan 22, 2025
When you think of growing older, what comes to mind?
Perhaps you imagine spending quality time with family and friends, relaxing in the comfort of your home, or the freedom to finally take that trip you’ve always wanted. For many of us, the idea of aging well involves enjoying life’s simple pleasures and having the support we need to remain independent, all while feeling safe and connected.
But the reality is our fragmented health, social, and community systems make aging at home anything but simple.
While many groups across the province are working tirelessly to improve the health and well-being of older adults, their efforts – though well-intentioned – are often operating in isolation, lacking the collective power needed to drive large-scale change.
That’s where we come in.
Thrive at Home is a strategic initiative was born out of a desire to understand and address the complexities facing older adults, particularly when it comes to accessing the care and services they need to age well in their communities.
Through collaboration and network-building, we’ve set out to foster a new way of working — one that emphasizes learning from each other, co-creating solutions, and driving coordinated action across the province.
Where we started
Embarking on this journey, we sought to first understand the challenges facing older adults as well as the opportunities to age well in our communities.
No doubt about it, our system is complex. From social and health care to community-based and provincial advocacy organizations, many groups are actively testing small-scale ideas to promote healthy aging across the province.
However, many of these groups are working in isolation of one another, each trying to innovate without awareness of what others in the province are doing.
Recognizing the pathway to improvement is far from linear, we identified this as an opportunity to bring people together to invite cohesive collaboration and spur a multitude of solutions aimed at enabling older adults to thrive at home.
Networks create conditions for emergence
Change often begins at the local level. Across Saskatchewan, people are banding together to brainstorm ideas and implement improvements. If these actions remain localized, their impact is limited to their respective areas. However, when they are connected, they can inform a larger, influential movement that reaches a broader scale – this is where the true magic happens.
By connecting people doing similar work, we’re able to learn from each other, develop trusting relationships, and drive system-wide, coordinated action.
Applying this theory of change, we’re leveraging the power of impact networks. Unlike social networks, this type of network is purposefully designed to connect individuals and organizations to advance learning and action for a common purpose. In our case, the goal is to enhance community-based care and supports for older adults in Saskatchewan.
Organizing for action
As a seasoned system convener for over 20 years, HQC is well-equipped to facilitate this type of cross-sectoral coordination and collaboration to organize for broader impact.
In April 2024, we convened over 100 health and community leaders for a collaborative workshop to deepen relationships, share collective learnings, and discover ways of coordinating our efforts to improve the health and well-being of older adults in Saskatchewan.
Building on the momentum generated at the event, we launched the Thrive at Home Action Community, a structured network where individuals come together to uncover innovative solutions to aging well in our communities.
Thrive at Home Action Community
This diverse network is comprised of system partners from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health, the Saskatchewan Health Authority, academia, community-based organizations, and, of course, those with lived experience.
United, we’re co-creating a future where everyone can grow older with dignity, choice, safety, and a true sense of belonging.
Since May 2024, the Action Community has focused on:
- deepening relationships and sparking new partnerships
- building a shared understanding of what’s already happening across the province
- learning from one another via monthly Learning Circle sessions
- collaborating in working groups to drive collective action
As a result, we’ve started to see the network come together and flourish!
Turning innovative ideas into action
Since the start of Thrive at Home, we’ve heard, loudly, the need for action.
Inspired by the energy behind this collective, the Action Community is coming together in focused working groups, called Action Hubs, to address challenges impacting older adults.
In December 2024, the network spent the afternoon learning from one another and diving deeper into the opportunities for collective action. The following themes emerged:
Navigation
Navigating our system to promote health and well-being
Transportation
Getting from place to place safely for health, social, and business needs
Home Supports
Accessing services and assistance that enable aging in place
Over the course of 2025, the Action Hub teams will break down the complexity of these system-wide challenges into bite-sized, short-term action cycles, and HQC will provide support through coaching and facilitation to develop tangible goals, coordinate action plans, and initiate improvement measures.
To learn more about the knowledge shared at the December workshop, dive into the Insights Report.
Lessons we’ve learned along the way
Collectively, the Action Community is establishing the foundation for sustainable, community-based innovations that enhance quality of life and promote healthy aging.
As with anything new, we are gathering insights along the way and learning in real time. As pioneers in this space, we’ve learned to:
Lean into multiple solutions
Gone are the days of one simple solution that will work for everyone. Instead, we’ve shifted away from the linear path of A to B and leaned into divergent thinking, ideas, and innovation.
Be flexible
While it’s important to have a plan, it’s equally valuable to remain flexible so the ideas and initiatives that surface from the Action Community inform the way forward. Flexibility within our approach creates more room for diverse solutions to emerge, particularly through connecting and collaborating with others.
Co-create the path forward
As we began bringing people together, we started to create a shared understanding of what it means to thrive at home in Saskatchewan, leveraging the wisdom and lived experience of older adults and others striving for enhanced care and supports for older adults.
Shift to a network mindset
Rather than promoting one single path of intervention, we’ve shifted our role to that of a convener to spark connections between diverse groups, define our shared purpose, and provide backbone support for groups to drive change.
Join the movement
Together, we’re demonstrating the power of community-led collaboration, data-driven strategies, and scalable outcomes in delivering meaningful change for those who call Saskatchewan home.
Ready to embark on this journey of change with us?
Join the Action Community!
