Age-Friendly Communities
The work of Watertown for All Ages is part of an international movement to increase the livability of cities and enhance the quality of life for people of all ages. It is known as the “age-friendly community” framework, which began as an initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO). In the United States this approach to community development has been established as the AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities. The “age-friendly” movement is large and growing. The WHO established an age-friendly network in 2010 that now numbers at least 533 cities and communities in 37 countries.
Closer to home, in Massachusetts, these communities have already committed to being age-friendly: Agawam, Arlington, Boston, Brookline, Dartmouth, Lawrence, Martha’s Vineyard, New Bedford, Newton, North Adams, Peabody, Pittsfield, Salem, Stoughton, Wakefield, West Springfield, Yarmouth, and Berkshire County.
There are a series of steps by which cities and towns can be designated as “age-friendly” according to the WHO model, after engaging in planning, taking action, and evaluating their work. One of the long-term goals of Watertown for All Ages is to help the town achieve “age-friendly community” status.
What does an Age-Friendly Community Look Like?
The WHO developed, and AARP-adopted, a model that identifies eight “domains” or aspects of community life that communities need to consider in order to be designated as age-friendly. The criteria for successfully addressing each of these domains are prescriptive enough to assure some commonality yet broad enough to include a wide range of communities. In its planning process, each community must identify the needs and resources of its own residents.
This “daisy” image is used to illustrate the eight domains, or community features, that influence the quality of life of older people.
The table below shows the rationale for each domain and provides examples of each. In 2018, with the support of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation and the Watertown Community Foundation, Watertown for All Ages initiated a project to address transportation issues in Watertown.
Rationale and examples for the eight age-friendly domains established by the World Health Organization
The WHO has gone further and developed a comprehensive four-page checklist of items by which community characteristics in each domain may be described as “age-friendly.” These elements provide a road map for communities that aspire to be livable for people of all ages.