Creating Aging-Friendly Communities (CAFC) examines the need to redesign America's communities to respond to the realities of our rapidly aging society. The text focuses on the interface between individuals and their environments, and the ways in which communities can enhance individual and community well-being. What differentiates CAFC from other books is its breadth of focus, its comprehensive and evidence-based consideration of key concepts, its inclusion of
social as well as physical infrastructure characteristics, and its intensive examination of models of community change for fostering aging-friendliness. It presents a conceptually and empirically-based model of aging-friendliness, identifies environmental modifications that could enhance individual and
community well-being, outlines a typology of community change approaches, and considers the potential efficacy of those approaches. This book identifies practical implications for policies, programs, and knowledge development designed to help communities become more aging-friendly.
Creating Aging-Friendly Communities
Description
Table of Contents
Introduction: Why America's Communities Must Become More Aging-Friendly
Part I: Aging and Community
1. Aging in America: Challenges and Opportunities for Communities
2. Aging Well
3. The Community Context for Aging Well
4. Towards Aging-Friendly Communities
Part II: Characteristics of Aging-Friendly Communities
5. Overcoming Physical Barriers to Aging Well: Mobility and the Built Environment
6. Promoting Social Engagement
7. Optimizing Personal Well-Being: Health and Social Supports
Part III: Creating Aging-Friendly Communities
8. Approaches to Aging-Friendly Community Change
9. Community Planning Models
10. Cross-Sector Collaborations
11. Community Development Initiatives
Part IV: Aging-Friendly Communities - Challenges and Opportunities
12. The Challenges of Making Communities More Aging Friendly
13. Conclusion: Aging-Friendly Communities - Present and Future
References
Appendix: Resources for Creating Aging-Friendly Communities
Index
Author Description
Andrew E. Scharlach, PhD, is Professor of Social Welfare at the University of California at Berkeley, where he holds the Eugene and Rose Kleiner Chair in Aging and directs the Gerontology specialization in the School of Social Welfare. He also serves as Director of the Center for the Advanced Study of Aging Services, where he conducts research designed to inform development of innovative and cost-effective approaches for promoting the well-being of older adults and
the communities in which they reside.
Amanda Lehning, PhD, MSW, is an assistant professor at the University of Maryland, School of Social Work. She received her MSW from Bryn Mawr College and a PhD in Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan, School of Social Work. Her research focuses on the effects of policies, programs, and neighborhood infrastructure on older adults' health, well-being, and the ability to age in
place.