title: Age-friendly community initiatives: conceptual issues and key questions.
abstract: Public policy and programs for older adults traditionally have focused on the delivery of benefits to targeted individuals. Over the past decade, age-friendly community initiatives (AFCIs) have developed as a paradigm shift in contrast to this predominant focus. AFCIs engage stakeholders from multiple sectors within a typically local geographic area to make social and/or physical environments more conducive to older adults' health, well-being, and ability to age in place and in the community. We describe three general categories of AFCIs, including community planning approaches, support-focused approaches, and cross-sector partnership approaches. Following from this conceptual overview, we posit four key policy-relevant questions with implications for the expansion of AFCIs, including what public policy supports are necessary for the implementation of AFCIs across diverse communities, how entities outside of aging can be engaged to collaborate, to what extent advocates for various models can work together, and how the outcomes of these initiatives can be rigorously evaluated. We conclude by discussing how AFCIs are germane to the primary issues highlighted by the 2015 White House Conference on Aging.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick. egreenf@ssw.rutgers.edu.
authors.forename: Emily A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Greenfield
authors.affiliation: Center for Home Care Policy and Research, Visiting Nurse Service of New York.
authors.forename: Mia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oberlink
authors.affiliation: School of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley.
authors.forename: Andrew E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Scharlach
authors.affiliation: Institute on Aging, Portland State University, Oregon.
authors.forename: Margaret B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Neal
authors.affiliation: Center on Aging and Community, Indiana University, Bloomington.
authors.forename: Philip B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Stafford
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living; D008134:Long-Term Care; D011640:Public Policy; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D066270:Social Capital; D012931:Social Environment; D012939:Social Planning
keywords: Conceptual development; Health; Home- and community-based care and services; Long-term care; Public policy; Social capital; Social services; Well-being