Christenson’s Manor on track for completion in June 2022

Sep 2021 — The Whitecourt Star

The construction of the Manor, part of Christenson Developments’ Downtown South project, is continuing on schedule, said company President Greg Christenson.

Building age-friendly communities

July 2014 — TEDxStouffville

This talk was given at a local TEDx event by Dr. Samir Sinha. People are living longer than ever before. Are they living well? Dr. Samir Sinha is a geriatrician with some smart advice for developing age-friendly communities.

Caring for an aging population

June 2021 — Edmonton AM with Mark Connolly, Tara McCarthy

Better home care options for seniors. We'll talk about why this is even more essential in the coming decade.

The 15-minute city aims to build more liveable neighbourhoods

November 2020 — The Globe And Mail

A block-by-block analysis of the amenities available in urban areas offers insights into creating more vibrant communities.

For most Canadians, the world has shrunk. The COVID-19 pandemic has kept many people close to home. And it has made many wonder whether the small worlds of our neighbourhoods shouldn’t contain all we need for daily life.

Nursing homes a 'perfect storm' for COVID-19 in Alberta, nursing expert says

July 2020 — CBC

New diseases can spread like 'wildfire,' according to a U of A professor.

Donna Wilson, a nursing professor at the U of A, said early efforts made to prevent infections from getting into nursing homes and long-term care facilities were important. But she added that once an infection does get in, the crowding, the sometimes low number of staff, and the older residents inside who are vulnerable to illnesses and infections create ideal conditions for the disease to spread.

Christenson Communities Introduces Homecare

April 2020 — Christenson Group of Companies

Greg Christenson, president of Christenson Group of Companies, is pleased to announce that CCL is now offering custom homecare.

Christenson Communities Ltd. (CCL) has been a leader in innovative long-term active adult living in Alberta for over 50 years, with award winning complete communities that include adjacent housing for professional workers. Now, Greg Christenson, president, is pleased to announce that CCL is now offering custom homecare.

A Big Problem with a Simple Solution: Fund Seniors, not Facilities

May 2020 — Exquisicare Inc

We know that COVID-19 outbreaks are occurring disproportionality in long-term care and seniors’ homes.

Our Prime Minister says the outbreaks in these facilities are unacceptable, and that we must ask tough questions about how this situation came about. I am calling for transformational change in how we care for our community’s greatest treasures - our seniors. There is no need to ask the “tough questions.” The answer is staring us all in the face, and it has been for years.

City Planners And Healthcare Providers Need To Talk About Their Common Goals

May 2019 — Stantec

How can healthcare providers and civic leaders coordinate community health goals, providing effective wellness while reducing healthcare costs?

Healthcare institutions are responding to changes in healthcare reimbursement (moving from fee-for-service to a proactive-care model). The goal is improved community health and avoiding development of costly chronic illnesses.

Top End Old Folks Homes Are Now Like Luxury Hotels

February 2019 — Edmonton Journal

The eldest of the wealthy baby boom generation are turning 73 this year, but for them there will be no dreary, uncomfortable old folks homes of the popular imagination.

For several decades now, homebuilders have been erecting a new generation of seniors residences and communities that are more like luxury hotels or resorts than depressing institutional quarters. In Edmonton, home builder Greg Christenson has led this charge.

Experiences of Informal Caregivers

2019 — Health Quality Council of Alberta

The impact on unpaid informal caregivers who support their aging loved ones report is the first of its kind to be released in Alberta.

In Alberta, there are an estimated 400,000 informal caregivers who provide support to seniors. This informal care is not paid for or funded by the province’s healthcare system. However it enables their loved ones to continue living at home. These often-unrecognized healthcare partners save Alberta’s health system approximately $3 billion annually.

Westman Village: Urban Resort Living

August 2019 — Richard White | Everyday Tourist

While many Calgary urbanists (myself included) sing the praises of the new master planned inner city developments (East Village, Currie or University District) and the densification and redevelopment of Beltline, Bridgeland, Kensington or Marda Loop, Westman Village in the suburb of Mahogany is not on our song sheet.

Recently, I made the 25 km road trip from my Calgary home to wander the village and tour some of the amenities and condos. It was an eyeopener!

Creekside Supportive Services

March 2019 — Christenson Group

Creekside Support Services allows Independent living.

CSS allows its clients to live independently with the almost 200 other non-disabled condo owners, in an inclusive community, with care provided discreetly to residents in their own homes.

Improved home care service, working conditions, and more personalized care with less travel time is provided when compared to conventional home care.

Better than LRT: Mini-festivals rally support for new focus in Edmonton city budget

October 2018 — Edmonton Journal

Edmonton’s budget debate has so far focused on the negatives of the high cost of building new suburbs but some city residents want to find a positive, instead.

Advocates living and working around Columbia Avenue near downtown, and on 101 Avenue in east Edmonton, both held mini-festivals on the weekend, trying to help developers and city officials see opportunity in the cracked pavement of older neighbourhoods.

Milestone reached for Westmount highrise project

June 2018 — Edmonton Prime Times

Doreen and Ross Connell raised a family in the northeast Edmonton community of Kilkenny. They’re now retired and living in Oliver, but are relocating to the innovative new senior’s residence of Village at Westmount.

Village at Westmount is a project of Christenson Developments, which has established a name for integrating independent and assisted living senior residences into walkable urban neighbourhoods.

Government of Canada Designing Healthy Living Report

October 2017 — Government of Canada

The Chief Public Health Officer’s Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2017.

Without being aware of it, our neighbourhoods and how they are built influence how healthy we are. I chose designing healthy living as the topic for my first report as Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer because of the tremendous potential that changing our built environment has for helping Canadians live healthier lives.

Read the full report on the Government of Canada's website.

How Progressive Cities are Embracing Walkability — to Make Money

October 5, 2017 — Tim Querengesser | Walkcast

Journalist Tim Querengesser goes on a walk in Edmonton with Dr. Karen Lee.

Lee helped re-design Times Square in New York for pedestrians. And business boomed as a result. Lee is from Edmonton and her parents live in the city. How does she feel about walkability in their neighbourhood? "I worry," she says.

Listen to the full WalkCast on SoundCloud

The million-dollar neighborhood

August 7, 2017 — CNU Journal

Walkable mixed-use neighborhoods help families build wealth—enough to help fund big-ticket items like college and retirement.

Houses appreciate. Cars depreciate. That simple contrast is a key to building wealth over a lifetime, writes Todd Litman, a researcher with the Victoria Transport Policy Institute.

Even though housing is more expensive in walkable, transit-rich neighborhoods, vehicle costs are substantially lower. Households in such neighborhoods shift their spending from transportation to housing. Over 40 years, this shift will add a million dollars of net worth to a typical household, Litman calculates. That's enough to put children through college and/or to retire on—all from careful choice in housing location.

Quality of assisted living homes inconsistent across Alberta, survey finds

July 13, 2017 — Edmonton Journal

Families looking for assisted living facilities in Alberta may want to comb through a new Health Quality Council of Alberta report that rates the quality of life in retirement homes.

The council surveyed 2,870 residents and 4,629 family members of people living in supportive facilities across the province, and found experiences ranging from delightful to frustrating.

“There’s lots of opportunity to improve out there,” Andrew Neuner, CEO of the Health Quality Council, said Thursday.

In a 2016 survey, researchers asked residents and relatives dozens of questions: Did the staff treat them with respect? Did they have to wait too long for help with eating or drinking? Did the room look and smell clean? How was the food?

Canadian seniors now outnumber children for 1st time, 2016 census shows

May 3, 2017 — CBC News

For the first time, seniors outnumber children in Canada, as the population experienced its greatest increase in the proportion of older people since Confederation, according to the latest census data.

Statistics Canada's 2016 census figures released Wednesday include demographic data related to age, gender and where Canadians live.

There are now 5.9 million Canadian seniors, compared to 5.8 million Canadians 14 and under.

This is due to the historic increase in the number of people over 65 — a jump of 20 per cent since 2011 and a significantly greater increase than the five per cent growth experienced by the population as a whole. The increase in the share of the oldest Canadians was even bigger — up 19.4 per cent for those over 85 and up 41.3 per cent among those over 100.

Census 2016: Big cities home to big share of 35 million Canadians

February 8, 2017 — The Canadian Press

Rapid population growth in the West sees cities trying to limit urban sprawl.

Colin Basran is having growing pains. In some ways a victim of his own success, the mayor of Kelowna has been struggling in recent years to rein in his city as it slowly spreads across the B.C. interior, testing his ability to provide core municipal services and build badly needed infrastructure.

Nor is the city's middle-aged spread at all unique, according to the 2016 census data released Wednesday: Canada's population of 35.15 million is settling in the bigger cities, ensuring they and their suburban neighbours keep growing, while small cities get smaller.

Building complete communities: Housing conference brainstorms walkable neighbourhoods

September 21, 2016 — St. Albert Gazette

City residents can have healthier lives and cleaner air if they work together to create complete communities, say planning experts.

About 140 people came to Morinville’s Community Cultural Centre last Sept. 15 for the Capital Region Board’s 5th annual ReEnvision Housing Symposium.

This conference brings planners, developers and engineers together to encourage a more diverse housing mix so people can stay in their home communities, said St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse, chair of the CRB.

Home Care Clients’ Experience Survey

2016 — Health Quality Council of Alberta

The HQCA conducted the 2015 Alberta Home Care Client Experience Survey in collaboration with Alberta Health Services and Alberta Health to help identify areas for improvement and highlight areas of success in home care.

The purpose was to capture the experiences and obtain feedback from seniors aged 65+ receiving long term supportive and maintenance care, who combined represent the largest group of home care clients.

This is the first survey conducted by the HQCA in the home care services sector and provides a baseline measurement that can be used for ongoing benchmarking and monitoring.

Home sweet retirement-funding home: One in five Canadians plan to sell property to pay for retirement

Jul 13, 2016 — Financial Post

Our increasingly high home values and poor savings have almost one in five Canadians looking to their property for retirement funding, according to a survey out Wednesday.

HSBC, which interviewed 18,207 people in 17 countries around the world, found 20 per cent of pre-retirees in Canada plan to downsize, or sell their primary and secondary residence in order to fund their retirement. That compares with five per cent of current retirees who will sell to fund retirement.

Province must act on health system's alternative level of care

Feb 4, 2016 — Edmonton Journal

Each day 400 to 600 hospital beds are occupied by elderly Albertans waiting for spaces in an alternative level of care facility, or ALC, in the continuing care system.

Their average age is 80. On average, they occupy the bed for 26 days. This compares to non-ALC patients who are 63 on average and spend four days in a hospital bed. Occupants of ALC beds have been referred to as bed blockers and a reason for long waiting times in emergency departments and a drag on hospitals, generally.

To be fair to the occupiers of ALC beds, they likely do not want to be in a hospital, but there is simply nowhere else to go. They have lower quality of life than they should have.