COSCO Delivers Health Promotion Workshops at 34th Annual Elders Gathering

Upon request, the Council of Senior Citizens’ Organizations of British Columbia (COSCO) will send trained facilitators to any community in B.C. – no matter how remote – to deliver one or more 90-minute health promotion workshops at no cost to recipients. These free workshops can be booked singly or as part of a series. Topics include caregiving, social connectedness, mental health, addictions, age-friendly communities, and a variety of other subjects to support older people in maintaining healthy lifestyles.

• Council of Senior Citizens’ Organizations of British Columbia (COSCO)

COSCO was recently invited to take part in the 34th Annual Elders Gathering, July 13-15 in Salmon Arm, where the organization hosted an information booth and delivered seven workshops. Sheila Pither, COSCO Treasurer and Health Literacy Coordinator, was pleased by the turnout, and noted that workshops on healthy eating, chronic diseases, and medication awareness were particularly well-attended. Sheila Pither hopes that COSCO’s attendance at the Elders Gathering will lead to more requests for COSCO workshops in Aboriginal communities.

Since its first health promotion workshop on fall prevention was offered in 2007, Sheila Pither estimates that COSCO has presented some 200 workshops to over 4,000 recipients. Nineteen different workshops are currently available, with several more under development.

These workshops are made possible by the hard work and dedication of COSCO’s members and executive committee, as well as through financial and in-kind contributions from organizations such as the Ministry of Health, B.C. Health Authorities, the Union of B.C. Municipalities, the City of Burnaby, the federal New Horizons for Seniors Program, the Bank of Canada, and the Canadian Council on Learning.

For a list of available workshops, please see:

• COSCO BC Workshops

To book a workshop contact Sheila Pither at pither470@shaw.ca or (604) 684-9720.