The Origins, Programs, and Benefits of Age-Friendly Communities

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Abstract
The emergence of the age-friendly community movement is a programmatic affirmation of what environmental gerontologists have long argued, namely, that the residential environments occupied by older individuals can influence their ability to age successfully and that solutions are available to optimize individual-environment congruence ( Golant, 2015a ; Scheidt & Windley, 2006 ). This global initiative has been most prominently advanced by the AdvantAge Initiative sponsored by the Visiting Nurse Service of New York (2004), AARP’s Livable Communities initiative (2000), and by the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s), Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities (2007) ( Feldman, Oberlink, Simantov, & Gursen, 2004 ; Kihl, 2005 ; World Health Organization, 2007 ).