An age-friendly community is designed to support people of all ages—especially older residents—by creating environments, policies, and services that promote healthy, active, and inclusive aging.
The age-friendly movement began in 2010 when the World Health Organization (WHO) launched its Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities (GNAFCC). Since then, nearly 2,000 communities in more than 50 countries have joined this initiative.
In 2012, AARP became a global affiliate of the GNAFCC and established the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities (NAFSC). Today, more than 1,000 communities across the United States have committed to incorporating an age-friendly lens into their community and economic development efforts.
About 100 age-friendly communities are right here in Maine!
To learn about the growth of this network in Maine, visit Age-Friendly Pioneers.
Envision Your Community's Age-Friendly Future. Watch this video featuring international leaders who share the real, measurable benefits they've seen from age-friendly community development. Their insights will spark your imagination about what's possible.
Hear from international leaders about how becoming age-friendly has benefitted their community (click here).
Now, dream big: Picture your community five years from now as a thriving age-friendly community. What transformation do you see?
Will people easily find information out about about local resources and activities?
Will outdoor spaces be safer and more accessible, encouraging neighbors to get outdoors and connect?
Will your community buzz with intergenerational activities?
Will transportation alternatives help older adults stay independent and engaged?
Will businesses and public buildings be accessible and welcoming for people living with physical disability or cognitive changes?
Will housing options allow people to age safely and with dignity in the places they love?
Take a moment to visualize the specific changes that would make your community not just livable, but truly vibrant for people of all ages. What concrete signs would tell you that your age-friendly journey has succeeded in creating a place where everyone can thrive as they grow older?
Age-friendly communities take a complete view of aging by examining eight key areas that affect daily life. The World Health Organization calls them "domains of livability," but we can think of them as the building blocks that make our communities work well for people of all ages. This approach recognizes that aging well depends on many connected factors in our communities.
These eight areas work together like pieces of a puzzle. When you improve one area, it often helps the others too.
Let's say your community adds more benches in parks and along sidewalks. This simple change:
Gives older adults places to rest during walks (the Outdoor Spaces and Public Buildings domain)
Creates spots where neighbors naturally stop and chat (the Social Participation domain)
Encourages people of different generations to spend time together (the Respect and Social Inclusion domain)
Makes the whole neighborhood feel more welcoming
See how one improvement can impact other areas of community life? Each change that your team makes will impact multiple domains of livability.
While some communities try to tackle all eight areas at once, that's not always the best approach. Age-Friendly should move at the pace that makes sense for your team and the priorities identified in your community. Many pick just a few areas to focus on first—the ones that will make the most significant difference for their residents. Then, they expand from there, building on those early successes.
Along with the 8 domains of livability, there are a few other things to consider when developing an age-friendly approach with your community.
Rather than being a one-time project, creating age-friendly communities is an ongoing journey. Communities commit to steady improvement at their own pace through stages like joining the network, creating action plans, tracking progress, and celebrating impact. Success isn't measured by meeting specific standards, but by continuously working toward making your community a better place to age.
Older adults with different backgrounds and life experiences help design and implement age-friendly projects from start to finish. They identify needs, make changes, and evaluate results. This ensures that age-friendly works for the older people who live in your community.
The approach brings together many community groups: local government, places of worship, healthcare systems, housing agencies, volunteer organizations, businesses, libraries, and cultural groups. When multiple sectors work together, changes last longer and reach every part of community life.
Age-friendly principles act as a lens for reviewing existing policies and services. Communities examine what they already have and consider what needs changing, adding, or removing to include all ages. This creates stronger connections between generations while supporting everyone's ability to age well in their community.
Ready to explore what makes a Maine community truly welcoming for people of all ages? We invite you to explore the Lifelong Maine website to discover what communities are doing in the 8 Domains of Livability.
Choose a few of the eight domains of livability that spark your curiosity and click here to learn how Maine communities are addressing them. Take your time. Each domain offers unique insights into creating spaces where everyone can thrive, regardless of age, ability, or life experience.
Reflection - Share Your Discoveries. After exploring examples of the 8 domains in action in Maine, please reflect on and answer ONE of these questions:
Which domains did you explore? What drew you to those particular areas? Was there something that caught your eye or surprised you as you learned more?
How does your community measure up? As you think about where you live, which domains seem to be your community's strengths when it comes to age-friendly approaches? What's working well?
When the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities launched its program, it established a process referred to as the 5-year process of continuous improvement. This approach emphasizes that developing age-friendly communities is an ongoing journey rather than a one-time effort. While there is a structured process, it is flexible and can adapt to meet the specific needs of each community.
As you start your journey, keep in mind that every age-friendly community progresses at its own pace, depending on the available resources. The timing of each step is not important; what matters is that you are collaborating with a team of dedicated change-makers who share a vision of creating a community where people can not only age in place but also thrive. These are the broad steps:
Every successful community project starts with the same two essential elements: passionate people and a receptive community. Think of it like planting a garden – you need both good seeds and fertile soil.
First, you'll want to recruit a small but mighty group of volunteers who genuinely care about making your neighborhood a better place for everyone. These are the people who see potential where others see problems, and who are willing to roll up their sleeves to create real change. Look for individuals who bring different perspectives, skills, and connections to the table.
Second, you need a community that's ready to embrace improvement. This doesn't mean everyone has to be on board from day one, but your town should have that underlying pride and belief that it can become an even more amazing place to live, work, and play. The magic happens when individual enthusiasm meets community spirit.
Once you've assembled your team, it's time to put on your detective hat and get to know your community. This is where the real adventure begins! You'll be surprised by how many resources (hidden gems!) are primed to work with age-friendly -- volunteer groups, residents with skills and talents to share, and organizations whose vision aligns with age-friendly.
Start by mapping out what's already working well. Who are the local champions? What programs are making a difference? Which businesses or groups share your vision of creating an age-friendly environment? This detective work helps you understand the foundation you're building on and identify partners with whom you can work.
But here's the crucial part: don't just assume you know what people want. Get out there and talk to older community members. A written survey of the community is a great start, but you will also want to talk with people. Host coffee chats, set up booths at community events, or strike up conversations at the grocery store. Listen to what people care about and how they envision their ideal community.
Now comes the exciting part – making things happen! With a solid understanding of your community's strengths and needs, you're ready to start implementing changes that matter. This is where your team's hard work pays off as you begin celebrating wins, both big and small.
The key is to weave age-friendly thinking into everything your community does. Whether it's advocating for better sidewalks, organizing intergenerational events, or simply changing how meetings are run to be more inclusive, you're creating a ripple effect that touches every aspect of community life.
Remember, building an age-friendly community isn't a destination – it's an ongoing journey that makes your town a place where people of all ages can thrive.
Launching an Age-Friendly Community can feel a bit daunting, but never fear! The links below take you to the Getting Started section of Lifelong Maine's How-to-Guide. There you'll find many examples from Maine communities to guide how you approach organizing your age-friendly initiative, identifying community partners, and learning about the strengths, needs, and preferences of older residents.
Organize for success.
Lifelong communities that engage the community, develop a strong core team, and identify a shared purpose through their mission, vision, and value statements are efficient and effective.
Mapping a way forward.
The basis of a strong plan is an age-friendly assessment of what is going well and how residents want to make the community better. Celebrating and sharing action plan wins shows that you are a team of doers.
Engage with a quick win.
While it's often tempting to take on big projects at first, "quick wins" create needed momentum and excitement.
Think about your community. Choose ONE of the questions to answer.
If you are starting your journey, watch the Meet and Bleat video below. What community events would be good opportunities to raise awareness of age-friendly? How could you attract people?
If you have already started learning about your community.... Can you think of a quick and meaningful win that would get community members more excited about your age-friendly work, strengthen partnerships, and engage elected officials? The Sullivan video below may give you some ideas.
Engage Your Community - Meet and Bleat Video
Whether you're 25 or 75, the improvements that you will make in your city or town benefit everyone. When we create spaces that work for older community members, we're building places where:
Families feel safe and connected
People of all abilities can participate
Neighbors know each other
Everyone has what they need to live well
The beauty of age-friendly communities is that they recognize a simple truth: good design is good for everyone.
Pro Tip - Connect with your peers in Lifelong Maine's age-friendly communities to share ideas and brainstorm solutions to challenges. We are a friendly group and age-friendly leaders are always willing to share!
Lifelong Maine Guide to Age--Friendly Community Development. This guide was created by Maine communities to answer common questions that age-friendly leaders
The AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities offers a 4-hour course, in collaboration with Ohio State University, that describes best practices for engaging the community, developing an assessment and action plan, implementing change, and submitting your progress report. FMI - Email Dalan Hwang for code to enroll in the course.
Pan-American Health Organization. Offers a free course for people interested in honing their age-friendly skills. Estimated time to complete the course is 40 hours but if can be taken in short (2-3 minute) increments that fit into your schedule.
Meet Your Chapter Guide - Patricia Oh, PhD, MSW
Director of Lifelong Maine and Co-Director of the Consortium for Aging Policy Research & Analysis, Dr. Oh is a community-engaged social worker and researcher committed to working alongside older adults to make our communities more inclusive. Based on her research with communities, Dr. Oh has authored more than a dozen book chapters and articles about aging in community and is the lead author of the award-winning AARP Roadmap to Livability Series and Rural Livability Report. Recent peer-reviewed publications include:
Black, K., & Oh, P. (2022). Assessing age-friendly community progress: What have we learned?. The Gerontologist, 62(1), 6-17.
Black, K., & Oh, P. (2023). Exploring sectoral reach in age-friendly communities. The Gerontologist, 63(5), 920-932.
Black, K., Oh, P., Montepare, J., and Kaye, L. (2024). Leveraging Higher Education in Our Age-Friendly World. Journal of Aging and Social Policy, 1-17. doi: 10.1080/08959420.2024.2384187
Gleason, S.R., Oh, P., Coyle, C. & Somerville, C. (2024). 'They Don't want to Label It': Insights from Communities not Enrolled in the NAFSC. Journal of Aging and Social Policy. doi: 10.1080/08959420.2024.2422660
Greenfield, E. A., Black, K., Oh, P., & Pestine-Stevens, A. (2022). Theories of community collaboration to advance age-friendly community change. The Gerontologist, 62(1), 36-45.
Oh, P., Kaye, L., & Parham, L. (2021). Community leaders’ perspective of strategies to enhance social connectedness in rural communities. Innovation in Aging, 5(Suppl 1), 315.
Oh, P. & White, L. (2022). Approaches to Community Supports and Health Services in U.S. Age-Friendly Communities: Focus on Advance Care and End-of-Life Planning. Journal of Aging Life Care, 32(1), 11-17.
During this chapter, we hope you gained a few tools for developing your age-friendly community.
If you have any questions as you are going through the material, please email: lifelong@maine.edu.
The Lifelong Maine Skill Building Series was developed as part of the Community Connections project.
Funding for the project was provided through support of the Governor's Cabinet on Aging and Office of Aging and Disability Services.
We are deeply grateful for the funding and for the thought leadership provided by Elizabeth Gattien, Coordinator of the Governor's Cabinet on Aging.