What is the Systems Map?
The Systems Map is a visual tool designed to depict the relationships, actors, and feedback loops within Alberta’s community-based seniors serving (CBSS) sector. It simplifies complex networks, offering a clear understanding of how organizations and services connect across the province.
By offering a clearer picture of these dynamics, the systems map helps organizations, stakeholders, and sector partners uncover opportunities for greater collaboration and more effective service delivery for Alberta’s older adults.
How the map works
The map allows users to explore the sector by searching for organizations by name, service area, or region. It highlights various forms of connections, such as community collaborations, financial partnerships, and formal referral pathways.
The map helps identify both strong connections and gaps in the network, enabling organizations to see where they can build new partnerships or strengthen existing ones.
Learn more about the map and its features!
Frequently Asked Questions
The Systems Map is for:
- CBSS organizations including senior centres, FCSS, libraries, community collaboratives and coalitions, and grassroots initiatives like Men’s Sheds.
- Systems partners in other sectors like government, health, and housing.
- Stakeholders such as individuals or organizations interested in the Healthy Aging Alberta initiative.
The Systems Map is an organic tool that CBSS organizations can use to facilitate the understanding of the sector and its position in it. Some noted examples are:
- Organizations are linked by their connection to each other through partnerships and collaborations, and these connections shown in the map can help facilitate overall system navigation.
- Organizations can use the map to visually represent their connections to share with their funders or external stakeholders.
- Organizations can use the map to identify gaps in services, perform a needs assessment, and expand upon program or service offerings by themselves or by partnering with others.
- Organizations can use the map to see which new relationships can be built by seeing the connections and work other organizations are doing and making or requesting an introduction.
The systems map is intended for community-based seniors serving organizations, collaboratives, coalitions, and grassroots initiatives that provide services and programs for older adults.
If the information submitted does not align with these entities, your information will unfortunately not be added to the map.
Updates to the systems map occur on the 5th day of each month. Please check back after the 5th of following month. If the information submitted does not align with the eligibility criteria, your organization will not appear on the systems map.
If you’ve submitted partner organizations or “connections” with your organization’s information, they will only appear on the map once that partner organization has also submitted their information.
Please share the form with your connections so we can also add their information to the map.
211 is intended to connect older adults (among other populations) to resources and services. HelpSeeker's audience is a mixture of individuals seeking support and organizations within a given community.
211 and HelpSeeker may show organizations' information but do not specifically show relationships or connections between organizations in the community-based seniors serving (CBSS) sector.
See “Why and how should I use the map?” for more information about the Systems Map.
Asset mapping is a strengths-based approach used to identify and compile resources in a community to illustrate community needs and disparities in service distribution.
Systems mapping is a process that helps describe and illustrate how a system functions and is often used to better understand a system to implement systems change.