How to capture stories on aging within your community

To create community conversations in order to collect information from community members about needs, wants, and preferences, utilize the tips and suggestions in How to capture stories on aging within your community (PDF), also provided as text below.

Purpose

To highlight positive stories and images related to aging in your community.
To use positive images to increase awareness and understanding of aging across the lifespan.
To recognize the contributions, experience, and wisdom of older adults who are living, working, and contributing to our communities.

Tips and suggestions

Post the life story, accomplishments, or interests of older adults in a newsletter, bulletin board, newspaper, website, etc. You can interview them or have them submit a biography or write up about themselves.
Host a display at a community event that features the lives, stories, or accomplishments of older adults. You can even select a theme such as ‘celebrating accomplishments’, ‘showcasing your life story’, or ‘displaying your meaningful activities’. Encourage older adults to bring in:
- photos
- personal belongings
- written stories
- newspaper articles
- an item that reflects their life or the theme of the showcase
- have the older adult write out a sentence or two describing their item and how it represents them (or you can help them with this). These can then be displayed for people to read and admire
Connect with local arts groups, school groups, public libraries, or museums that may be interested in initiating a project related to aging in your community as a way to engage community members in sharing their stories and experiences related to aging in their community