| |
Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
 | |
|
Conceptualizing age-friendly community characteristics in a sample of urban elders
— an exploratory factor analysis | | Author(s) | Richard J Smith, Amanda J Lehning, Ruth E Dunkle |
| Journal title | Journal of Gerontological Social Work, vol 56, no 2, February-March 2013 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis, February-March 2013 |
| Pages | pp 90-111 |
| Source | http://www.tandfonline.com |
| Keywords | Community care ; Development projects ; Neighbourhood care ; Needs [elderly] ; Evaluation ; Measurement ; Social inclusion ; Social policy ; Urban areas ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | Age-friendly communities may help older adults to remain in their own homes, however accurate conceptualisation and measurement of age-friendly community characteristics are currently lacking. The aim of this study was to measure the social and physical environmental characteristics of an age-friendly community through an exploratory factor analysis of items reflecting an existing US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) policy framework. The EPA framework organises characteristics of age-friendly communities into four categories: staying active, connected and engaged; neighbourhoods and housing; transportation and mobility; and access to healthy activities. Data for the exploratory factor analysis came from the City of Detroit Needs Assessment of Older Adults using a sample of 1,376 urban older adults. This data was combined with business and service location data in order to calculate the number of amenities within walking distance. The findings identified six factors associated with demographic and health characteristics. Three of the factors related to the respondents' physical environments: access to business and leisure, access to health care and neighbourhood problems. The other three factors reflected the individual's social environment: social interaction, social support and community engagement. Future research should explore the effects of these factors across contexts and populations. (JL). |
| Accession Number | CPA-130823226 A |
| Classmark | PA: IGD: PQN: IK: 4C: 3R: RNA: TM2: RK: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
|
| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
| |
|