CORE Learning Hub

What is Healthy Aging CORE Alberta

CORE stands for Collaborative Online Resources and Education. This site is an initiative of Healthy Aging Alberta. It is a free member-based digital knowledge and learning hub designed to support this work of coordination and strengthening of the sector by connecting CBSS organizations and their allied partners and providing a digital space to share knowledge and capacity-building opportunities and collaborate with others on common issues or aligned priorities.

CORE is designed to provide up-to-date information, resources, and training opportunities and make communicating, coordinating, and collaborating easier to build capacity, strengthen the network, and develop a collective and cohesive voice among volunteers, staff, and others who support healthy aging initiatives. CORE is primarily a network and sector-building tool aimed at helping the vision of this provincial initiative. With support from the United Way, the Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services, Alberta Blue Cross, Alberta Health Services and the Government of Canada, CORE Alberta was launched on May 10, 2020.

1. Watch our short CORE information video
2. Watch our previous CORE 101 sessions to learn about how to use the CORE platform and post content
3. Join our next CORE 101 session to learn about how to use the platform- SAVE THE DATE: The next session is on June 20, 2024, from 11am-12:30pm MDT
4. Sign up for our CORE Newsletter to get sector updates, news, funding, events, and resources every second week
5. Join a CORE group to connect with others on critical issues!
6. Check out CORE BC and CORE National for other content!

How Healthy Aging CORE Alberta can be used for your work

Wondering how you can use CORE Alberta for your work? While hosted by Healthy Aging Alberta, this platform is member-led. That means that the opportunity is up to you!

We have a large audience (1800+ members and 5300+ users) on CORE Alberta, a broad reach across other HAA platforms like our Newsletter (3500+) and LinkedIn (1500+), and a plethora of resources (4000+ pieces of content) to support your work!

1. Resources: Want to share your new resource, toolkit, or study with a broad audience of people? Please post it on CORE in our Resources section!
2. Research: Need people for your study? Post it under Resources and let us know so we can flag it for additional promotion!
3. News: Did you do something exciting, and did the news cover it? Post it under the News section so folks can see what action our sector is taking!
4. Events: Have an event that will help the sector? (sharing findings, building a Community of Practice, hosting a conference, planning a capacity-building workshop, etc.) Post it in the Events Calendar, and we will share it!
5. Event Recordings: Did you record an event and now have it as a webinar for folks to watch? Please post it in our Resources section and embed your video in the post! (all you need is the video player link Like YouTube or Vimeo)
6. Programs: Want to show off your new Program? Post it as a Program, which will be shared in the Featured Programs And Initiatives section.
7. Funding: Do you have a Funding Opportunity? Post it in the Funding Opportunity section, and add the deadline(s) in the title so we can easily search for upcoming grants!
8. Groups: Have a group of sector leaders that needs a space to host events, store and share content, and collaborate on an issue across the province or Canada? Talk to us about starting a CORE Group based on your needs! (see information below)
9. Reach: Want to share things outside of Alberta? You can also cross-post on CORE BC and CORE National to get the above content on the other platforms!
10. Search: Need to find a resource quickly for something you are working on? Maybe you need some research for a presentation or proposal. Maybe you have an idea and need money to support it. Perhaps you saw a news article you want to reference but can't remember where it was. Maybe it was a Toolkit or Resource you can use for your program with older adults. Use our convenient search options to find what you are looking for quickly. The links to the original content or the report PDF are here for download!
11. Cross Post: We can also cross-post relevant content between CORE Alberta, CORE BC, and CORE National. We have many national and international users, so your content can reach a LARGE audience!

Have an Idea for a CORE Hosted Event?

Healthy Aging Alberta hosts many events and webinars directly throughout the year. If you don't necessarily want to start a group but want to collaborate with us on hosting a capacity-building event for some new research, learnings, or a specific theme, Contact us to pursue this conversation and what this can look like! We can use this event as a stand-alone event or even as a pilot to test if there is interest in continuing this conversation as a CORE group. Visit our YouTube channel to see all the past events we have hosted, either CORE Group-led or HAA/CORE-led events! (eg. Frailty Series, CRA Series, AGE Friendly Housing Series)

Benefits:

1. Large Reach for sharing
2. HAA helps with Zoom hosting, event setup, promotions, admin, post-event surveys and recordings, etc.
3. You develop the presentation content to share or the theme to connect with others!
4. We double the reach since we are both promoting the event!

How do Groups work?

• Groups are an excellent opportunity for folks who want to connect with others on a specific issue.
• Maybe you are already connecting with others and need a place to store minutes, resources, event recordings, and more so that your group has easy access. (eg. Community Partners in Action)
• Maybe you want to grow the reach of your local group to a provincial or national collaboration. Maybe you already have funding for this work or a unique initiative which would help you reach more people and make a more profound impact. (Eg. Intergenerational Linkages, Connecting People and Community for Living Well, or Men's Sheds Alberta)
• Maybe you don't already have a group, but you want to build an Alberta collaborative to connect on trends and issues you are seeing in the sector. (Eg. Immigrant Senior Sector Connections) The Healthy Aging Alberta Team can help connect you to new folks you may not have already known! The ISSC group approached us as a few Calgary organizations that wanted to communicate with other Immigrant Senior Serving providers across the province to talk about issues they see and design provincial strategies for the sector. CORE Alberta can help support this work!
• Maybe you are a government body or a post-secondary institution with content and research you want to share with folks and roll out fast regularly (e.g., Government of Alberta- Seniors Programs Resources Guide).

Steps for starting a group:

1. Consider if you fall in one of these above categories and it seems like a logical or beneficial step for your work
2. Contact our CORE Alberta team to discuss this in more detail and determine if an open group or a closed community of practice group is right for you.
3. Meet with our CORE Alberta team to discuss the next steps and process to launch a group.
4. Once we have determined your needs, the Healthy Aging CORE Alberta team can help you launch the group, support initiatives and ideas, promote things you have going on, and more!
5. Your events and Partner Meetings will get regular features in our Newsletter and Social Media.
6. Your event recordings will be hosted on our YouTube channel so folks can continue watching past sessions.
7. Groups can work with our Regional Community Development team to potentially take leadership roles at Regional Gatherings and Healthy Aging Alberta Summit to discuss and build on the work with a larger audience.

What happens if my project ends or our capacity to lead a group changes?

• This has happened in the past. If your capacity changes at any time, we can discuss a group sunset plan or leadership changeover if there is no longer the capacity.
• Some groups have been connected to projects and initiatives that had a set timeline
• Some groups have had capacity or leadership changes and have adapted, grown, or closed as needed

Let's Get Started!