About the Survey

The Survey of “Aging-Friendly” Community Characteristics is a brief survey that focuses on several areas of community living that affect the quality of life of all residents of a community, including those of us who are older. The survey was created by compiling a comprehensive list of traits deemed supportive of the needs of older persons and their families from a variety of sources (e.g., National Association of Area Agencies on Aging & the MetLife Foundation, 2007), as described in a 2013 article summarizing some preliminary findings (Barber). This search yielded more than 130 community characteristics, which were reduced to 89 items and organized around 13 subject areas (described in detail below). You can view the hard-copy assessment here; or access the online version here. 

The assessment can be used in numerous ways to help communities improve their livability and support and capitalize on their older members. See “Using the Survey” for guidance.

The assessment can be used in numerous ways to help our communities improve their livability and support and build momentum on the experience and wisdom we gain as we age. See “Using the Survey” for guidance. 

Preparing to Engage the Community

Each community has different needs and goals. As you prepare for this process – whether you are approaching a county board, coalition, or other group to bring this issue to the forefront, or whether they have reached out to you to initiate this process – there are several things to consider.

• • Who are you presenting to/working with, and what are their goals?
    • For example, an aging task force consisting of health department representatives might benefit from basic information to help them reinvigorate their members; a coalition engaged in strategic planning or priority setting may benefit from a step-by-step evaluation of the “aging friendly characteristics” of their community
  • Why does your community want to undertake this process? 
    • Evaluating the aging-friendly characteristics can be used for several purposes: as part of a needs assessment; to prioritize future community action; to inform strategic planning; to raise awareness and spur action; among others. Agreeing on the main goal(s) of the process will help streamline and facilitate the effectiveness of the process.
  • Is now the right time? 
    • In order to be successful, this process should be planned with consideration to the needs and priorities of the community.  For example, if the community has recently conducted a needs assessment, the key stakeholders and coalitions may be suffering from “assessment burnout.” Conversely, if your community is approaching a period of strategic planning or has identified an urgent need to assess and address issues of aging, this process may provide key information.
  • Have they identified a champion? 
    • A leader who will own this process and drive change (e.g., encouraging goal setting; following up to ensure that the next steps are accomplished; tracking and evaluating the outcomes) will help streamline and facilitate the effectiveness of this process. This should probably not be you. The Family Living Educator’s role here is to educate, facilitate, and even catalyze and plant the seeds that the champion can then nurture into community-level change. This is not necessary, but may prove important for effecting change and supporting long-term success.
  • Are the right people at the table?
    • You and the aging-friendly champion may wish to involve additional stakeholders to inform the group’s evaluation of the aging-friendly environment of the community, depending on the group and their goals. Consider who else needs to be involved in order to get the best picture of what the community is succeeding at, where there is opportunity for growth, and how the community should go about making change. Here are some resources and best practices:
      • County Health Rankings suggestions for building and sustaining partnerships
      • Coalition startup, building, assessment, and sustainability tools from CoalitionsWork
      • Community Toolbox from the University of Kansas

Best Practices: These best practices are based on the research and trainings on reframing aging by the Frameworks Institute. Regardless of the audience you are talking to or what aging-related topic you may be discussing, these are best practices to follow when you use this toolkit or presentation.

• • First, it is key to present why this topic is important and why it matters for the community. Here, we use value statements to answer this question. Values like ingenuity and justice have been found to work best to help establish why these issues matter. 

• • Next, we want to use an explanatory technique or metaphor to explain how aging can be more positive and what needs to be in place for that to occur. The Frameworks Institute has found that the metaphor of building moment works well with the value of ingenuity. For the value of justice, the Frameworks Institute talks about using the explanatory technique of confronting injustice where you define and offer examples of ageism. It is also helpful to explain implicit bias and how that can influence our judgements of others. 

• • Finally, it is essential to end the conversation with concrete, structural and policy level solutions. We want to close with a satisfying resolution so the audience feels like something can be done about this problem. Closing with solutions like intergenerational community centers helps the audience to have a thorough understanding of what this particular solution might offer our community. This will also prevent people from thinking of this as another social problem that nothing can be done.  

• • Avoid phrasing as “us vs them.” Regardless of who we are, we are all aging and this conversation impacts all of us. Frame your discussions with inclusive language like “us” and “we” instead of labeling older adults as “them” or “they”

• • Watch the terms we use to talk about aging. Adopt references as “older adult” or “older person” instead of labeling people as seniors or elders. 

• • Talk about this as an exciting opportunity for change and collaborative solutions instead of using crisis frames, such as the “age wave” or “silver tsunami.” 

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