Aging in Place Initiative
In 2004, Partners for Livable Communities and the National Area Agencies on Aging began working directly with nine laboratory communities to assist them in advancing policies, programs and services to promote Aging in Place. Partners learned from these efforts that many community leaders are taking positive steps toward a livable community with no age boundaries, but other communities are unsure where to begin.
In 2006, Partners and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging collaborated with the International City and County Management Association (ICMA), the National League of Cities (NLC) and the National Association of Counties (NACo), with support from the MetLife Foundation, to conduct a survey of 10,000 US cities and counties to determine how they were addressing the needs of their aging population. The report from this survey was called The Maturing of America: Getting Communities on Track for an Aging Population.
To help those communities that have begun the journey and those yet to take the first step, Partners and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging joined again with ICMA, NLC and NACo and with additional support from MetLife Foundation to produce a comprehensive toolkit, A Blueprint for Action: Developing Livable Communities for All Ages. The Blueprint is being used to facilitate community-wide discussion, assessment and action to ensure that America’s cities and counties take advantage of the demographic transition to become more livable for all ages.
Between 2007 and 2009, the MetLife Foundation supported Partners and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging to conduct twelve forums in communities across the country on Aging in Place themes and to distribute “JumpStart the Conversation” grants to groups interested in pursuing work around those themes. A comprehensive report on each workshop theme was completed and can be downloaded in the report section. Following the final forum in June of 2009, Partners and n4a have been working to put together a public report that consolidates and reflects on all of the individual reports from each workshop over the two year period.
The most recent component of this partnership is an Aging in Place Outreach campaign where Partners is building on the experience of the Survey, the Blueprint and the 12 workshops. During 2010, the team will launch a comprehensive outreach, media and marketing campaign compromised of a variety of elements; create an Aging in Place Resource Center; and develop a process to reach key stakeholder regarding the imperative of taking action. This outreach campaign will focus on building public awareness among key civic leaders of the opportunity the growing older demographic presents for developing more livable communities for all ages.
Other Initiatives
Partners also has a number of other programs the organization is in the process of developing or implementing. Topics include:
- Arts and cultural organizations’ response to growing older populations
- Planning for the maturing labor force
- Involving new stakeholders in the needs of older populations
- Cross-sector partnerships that benefit older populations
If you are interested in learning more about any of these initiatives, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
