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How Can the Lived Environment Support Healthy Ageing? A Spatial Indicators Framework for the Assessment of Age-Friendly Communities

Author

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  • Melanie Davern

    (Healthy Liveable Cities Group, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
    Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia)

  • Rachel Winterton

    (John Richards Centre for Rural Ageing Research, La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Bendigo, VIC 3550, Australia)

  • Kathleen Brasher

    (Age-Friendly Northeast Victoria, Central Hume Primary Care Partnership, Benalla, VIC 3672, Australia)

  • Geoff Woolcock

    (Institute for Resilient Regions, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia)

Abstract

The Age-Friendly Cities and Communities Guide was released by the World Health Organization over a decade ago with the aim of creating environments that support healthy ageing. The comprehensive framework includes the domains of outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and inclusion, civic participation and employment, communication and information, and community and health services. A major critique of the age-friendly community movement has argued for a more clearly defined scope of actions, the need to measure or quantify results and increase the connections to policy and funding levers. This paper provides a quantifiable spatial indicators framework to assess local lived environments according to each Age-Friendly Cities and Communities (AFC) domain. The selection of these AFC spatial indicators can be applied within local neighbourhoods, census tracts, suburbs, municipalities, or cities with minimal resource requirements other than applied spatial analysis, which addresses past critiques of the Age-Friendly Community movement. The framework has great potential for applications within local, national, and international policy and planning contexts in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Melanie Davern & Rachel Winterton & Kathleen Brasher & Geoff Woolcock, 2020. "How Can the Lived Environment Support Healthy Ageing? A Spatial Indicators Framework for the Assessment of Age-Friendly Communities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-20, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:20:p:7685-:d:432384
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Ling Yang & Hsiao-Tung Chang & Jian Li & Xinyue Xu & Zhi Qiu & Xiaomin Jiang, 2023. "A Comprehensive Evaluation of the Friendliness of Urban Facilities for the Elderly in Taipei City and New Taipei City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-19, September.
    4. Huicheng Feng & Xiaoxiang Tang & Cheng Zou, 2024. "Optimizing the Layout of Service Facilities for Older People Based on POI Data and Machine Learning: Guangzhou City as an Example," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-15, May.
    5. Hao Zhu, 2022. "Spatial Matching and Policy-Planning Evaluation of Urban Elderly Care Facilities Based on Multi-Agent Simulation: Evidence from Shanghai, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-20, December.
    6. Hannah R. Marston & Kelly Niles-Yokum & Paula Alexandra Silva, 2021. "A Commentary on Blue Zones ® : A Critical Review of Age-Friendly Environments in the 21st Century and Beyond," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-33, January.
    7. Tuochen Li & Siran Wang, 2021. "How to Improve the Public Trust of the Intelligent Aging Community: An Empirical Study Based on the ACSI Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-14, February.
    8. Mildred E. Warner & Xue Zhang, 2020. "Healthy Places for Children: The Critical Role of Engagement, Common Vision, and Collaboration," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-14, December.
    9. Chunmei Zhang & Jun Yang, 2023. "Evaluation of the Quality of the Age-Friendly Environment in Liaoning Province," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-13, November.
    10. Jo-Ying Huang & Hui-Chuan Hsu & Yu-Ling Hsiao & Feng-Yin Chen & Shu-Ying Lo & Tzu-Yun Chou & Megan F. Liu, 2022. "Developing Indicators of Age-Friendliness in Taiwanese Communities through a Modified Delphi Method," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-17, November.

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