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PARTNERS’ ACTIONS: Towards Elder-Friendly
Communities
Partners Journey in
Aging
Next Steps
PARTNERS JOURNEY IN AGING
For almost ten years, Partners for Livable Communities, a
non-profit community and urban development organization, has
seen aging as a top issue facing the United States. Their
continual struggle to highlight the issue began with the publication
of "Retrofitting Communities: Accommodating Aging in
Place A Best Practice Catalogue" in 1995. Funded by the
National Endowment for the Arts and Henry J. Luce Foundation,
the book examines issues of housing, transportation, quality
of life, service delivery and design to identify and catalogue
the examples of the best programs around the country. This
work was used to provide innovative responses to a growing
elderly population.
In June 2002, Partners for Livable Communities, with the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Horizon Foundation and
Howard County, Maryland, convened a two-day national leadership
forum near Washington, DC, on the issues of aging in place.
For the first time, this unique event brought together nationally
recognized experts in housing, transportation, health and
social services, urban design, cultural social and recreational
opportunities and public safety services. Specialists in each
area were able to discuss barriers and brainstorm solutions
that will enable senior citizens to grow old in their own
homes and communities.
The central idea that emerged from this conference is that
current thinking about quality care and provision for the
elderly must be significantly reconsidered. Beginning with
the cultural perception of aging itself, there are many barriers
that must be addressed with greater creativity. The conference
allowed participants to reach a consensus on the steps needed
to create a national aging in place movement. Attendees contributed
preventative measures, steps for implementation and future
movement on aging in place. These conclusions allowed cities
to see the overall relevance to community livability and the
benefits of investing in the aging process.
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