NEW ZEALAND | For aged care and retirement living operators, the push to keep older people active is increasingly extending beyond organised exercise programmes and into the communities around them.
Bupa New Zealand is expanding its Healthy Cities movement across Aotearoa this September, partnering with ACC, Christchurch City Council and EcoMatters Environment Trust to connect physical activity, social participation and environmental regeneration.
Throughout the month, Bupa employees, residents, whānau and communities will be encouraged to increase their activity through walking, cycling, gardening, dancing and other forms of movement.
Activity contributes to Bupa's global Healthy Cities challenge, with participation helping unlock funding for environmental regeneration projects.
Bupa New Zealand Managing Director Pedro Sánchez said the growing number of organisations involved reflected the broader connection between individual wellbeing, community participation and the environment.
"Healthy Cities is about connecting the health of people with the health of our planet," Sánchez said.
"We want to encourage people to get outside, move, explore their neighbourhoods and cities, connect with others and discover some of the incredible places that are right on their doorstep."
The programme has particular relevance for older New Zealanders, where maintaining activity, strength, balance and social connection can support independence and participation in everyday life.
That element is being strengthened this year through ACC joining Healthy Cities as a participating organisation.
ACC's injury prevention work includes programmes designed to help older New Zealanders improve strength and balance and maintain their independence.
Sánchez said ACC brought a strong prevention focus to the initiative.
"Staying active, maintaining strength and balance, getting outside and remaining connected with our communities all matter as we get older," he said.
"ACC understands better than most the difference prevention can make."
The expansion also takes Healthy Cities further into public spaces.
In Auckland, Bupa is working with EcoMatters Environment Trust on the Flat White Ride, an initiative encouraging people to use quieter cycling routes and shared paths through West Auckland.
The routes connect cafés, commuter links and shared paths, while also drawing attention to Te Whau Pathway and newer infrastructure connecting communities around the Whau River.
EcoMatters Environment Trust CEO Carla Gee said the initiative had been designed to make cycling accessible rather than performance-focused.
"The emphasis is deliberately social and accessible: you don't need to be a serious cyclist," Gee said.
In Christchurch, Bupa is partnering with Christchurch City Council and the Avon-Ōtākaro Network on activities encouraging people to use public spaces and engage with their local environment.
These include World Rivers Day on 27 September, with music, dance, art and community activities planned along the Ōtākaro Avon River.
Bupa is also supporting Welcoming Week, including a planting day involving Council Park Rangers and the NZ Chinese Creative Arts and Culture Troupe.
The environmental component gives Bupa a second measure of participation beyond activity alone.
Last year, New Zealand participants recorded 320 million steps towards more than one billion steps across Bupa Asia Pacific. Bupa said the activity helped unlock the planting of more than 16,000 trees in New Zealand, alongside tens of thousands more in Australia.
For the aged care sector, the more significant test will be whether initiatives such as Healthy Cities can turn a month-long activity campaign into sustained movement and community participation.
With providers increasingly focused on maintaining independence and wellbeing for longer, programmes that make everyday activity easier to incorporate may have more value than those relying solely on structured exercise.
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