Healthy living guidelines developed at University of Alberta on display at Leduc seniors housing complex

Telford Mews at Leduc Village seniors housing apartment building in August 2023. (Brandon Lynch/CTV News Edmonton)

A seniors housing complex in Leduc has incorporated national healthy living guidelines developed by a University of Alberta initiative.

Telford Mews at Leduc Village, a mixed-income seniors housing development which opened in June 2022, was built using Healthy Community Guidelines, newly released national protocols promoting physical activity, healthy eating, and social connections through thoughtful building and neighbourhood environment changes.

The University of Alberta's Housing for Health developed the initiative with funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada. Staff there developed the guidelines over three years after consulting with more than 100 stakeholders including urban planners, architects and health professionals.

Developers of the guidelines, led by Dr. Karen Lee, direcor of Housing for Health and an associate professor in preventative medicine at the U of A, took inspiration from a similar effort in New York City, where multi-sector partnerships led to positive health outcomes.

Promoting active living goes beyond providing fitness equipment in a space one might find in most apartment complexes.

"It's everyday active living," Lee said Tuesday at Telford Mews. "Reminding residents to take the stairs. A map to remind people of places nearby: grocery stores, public library, park space. It's a combination of bringing all of those things together for social connections, for active living and for healthy eating."

Healthier living attributes of the building also include a stairwell flooded with natural light, and a restaurant that offers healthy breakfast and lunch options.

Greg Christenson, president of the Christenson Group of Companies -- which built Telford Mews and manages the building via its Christenson Communities arm -- said the site, located across 50 Street from the Leduc Community Hospital, was chosen because of its proximity to facilities and ammenities.

"We took different groups in the development, the business community, and put forth the merits of this program of integrating healthy living into building design," he said. "I think there's an interest in the private sector, certainly, and in the public sector to go away from purely acute care, medical care, highly expensive types of situations and to create things that are more attractive, more appealing, more preventative. They're very simple principles not often done."

Telford Mews is one of three pilot projects for seniors housing in Alberta that incorporate the healthy living guidelines. The others are located in Edmonton and Whitecourt.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Brandon Lynch