Journal of Geriatrics: Age-Friendly Papers
Geriatrics journal has published a series of ten articles as part of their Special Issue on "Age-Friendly Ecosystems: Voices from Around the World."
The purpose of the Special Issue, guest edited by JAHF's President Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN, is to learn from voices around the world about the meaning of age-friendly in the context of their work - including age-friendly cities, age-friendly health systems, age-friendly communities, age-friendly public health systems, age-friendly universities and dementia-friendly settings. Articles published as part of the Special Issue include:
"Active Aging and Smart Public Parks," open access article by João Boavida, Hande Ayanoglu, Cristóvão Valente Pereira, and Rodrigo Hernandez-Ramirez, published September 22, 2023
Studies have shown that public parks and green spaces can contribute to a higher quality of life and wellbeing. A smart city should consider the increasing rate of aging and give more importance to outdoor environments as a key aspect of quality of life. The article’s main purpose is to provide a comprehensive background to understand the current knowledge on smart public parks and highlight the significance of new research in the field to promote active aging. The article is expected to inspire new research ideas by identifying gaps in knowledge. Open and challenging issues in emerging smart park solutions are proposed for further work.
"Virtual Dementia-Friendly Communities (Verily Connect) Stepped-Wedge Cluster-Randomised Controlled Trial: Improving Dementia Caregiver Wellbeing in Rural Australia," open access article by Irene Blackberry, Tshepo Rasekaba, Debra Morgan, Kayla Royals, Jennene Greenhill, David Perkins, Megan O’Connell, Mohammad Hamiduzzaman, Margaret Winbolt, Ainsley Robinson, Hilary Davis and Clare Wilding, published August 25, 2023
Caring for people living with dementia often leads to social isolation and decreased support for caregivers. This study investigated the effect of a Virtual Dementia-Friendly Rural Communities (Verily Connect) model on social support and demand for caregivers of people living with dementia. The co-designed intervention entailed an integrated website and mobile application, peer-support videoconference, and technology learning hubs. The relationship between post-intervention social support with age, years of caring, years since diagnosis, and duration of intervention were explored through correlation analysis and thin plate regression.
"Lessons Learned from Age-Friendly, Team-Based Training," open access communication by Sara C. Murphy, Jennifer J. Severance, Kathlene Camp, Janice A. Knebl, Thomas J. Fairchild and Isabel Soto, published July 28, 2023
According to the Institute of Medicine, immediate steps must be taken across the United States to educate and train the healthcare workforce to work collaboratively to address the needs of the growing older adult population. The Geriatric Practice Leadership Institute (GPLI) was designed to support professional teams working in acute and post-acute care in transforming their organization into a designated Age-Friendly Health System. The program was built around the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Age-Friendly Health Systems 4Ms framework and this articles discusses the lessons learned.
"Guiding Post-Hospital Recovery by ‘What Matters:’ Implementation of Patient Priorities Identification in a VA Community Living Center," open access article by Katherine C. Ritchey, Laurence M. Solberg, Sandra Wolfe Citty, Lea Kiefer, Erica Martinez, Caroline Gray and Aanand D. Naik, published July 4, 2023
Patient priorities care is an effective age-friendly health systems (AFHS) approach to aligning care with goals derived from ‘what matters’. The purpose of this quality improvement program was to evaluate the fidelity and feasibility of the health priorities identification (HPI) process in VA Community Living Centers (CLC). The article concluded that the HPI process is an acceptable and feasible approach to ask the ‘what matters’ component of AFHS in a CLC setting.
"Age-Friendly Ecosystems: Expert Voices from the Field," open access perspective by JAHF's Terry Fulmer, EDC's Kim Dash, Boston University SPH's Jody Shue, JAHF's JiHo Chang, Jessica Huang and Abby Maglich, published June 21, 2023
JAHF and The Age-Friendly Institute hosted a series of convenings of international experts to identify a working definition of the characteristics composing an "age-friendly ecosystem." The goal was to provide the infrastructure on which to unite cross-sector age-friendly work. The perspective paper discusses the findings and provides a framework from which future age-friendly work must draw upon.
"The Value of Age-Friendly Public Health Systems in the Age-Friendly Ecosystem," open access commentary co-authored by TFAH's Megan Wolfe and J. Nadine Gracia, published June 2, 2023
This paper describes why the public health sector should adopt healthy aging policies and practices, how this is being operationalized at the state and local levels and the value of age-friendly public health systems within the age-friendly ecosystem. The commentary explains how becoming an age-friendly public health system is a crucial advancement to demonstrate commitment to the health of all people across the life course.
"Awareness and Perceptions of “Age-Friendly”: Analyzing Survey Results from Voices in the United States," open access article by Lauren Dunning, Diane Ty, Priyanka Shah and Mac McDermott, published May 28, 2023
The term “age-friendly” is widely used to describe cities, communities, health systems, and other environments. However, little is known about how this is interpreted or what the term means to the public. To investigate the public’s familiarity with the term and gain insights into its relevance to older adults, researchers used data generated by a survey of 1000+ adults aged 40 and above. Most people believed “age-friendly” refers to all ages, even though age-friendly health systems are designed to meet the unique needs of older adults. These survey results provide the age-friendly ecosystem field with insights into the awareness and perceptions of the term “age-friendly,” highlighting opportunities to bolster understanding.
"Enhancing Community Participation through Age-Friendly Ecosystems: A Rapid Realist Review," open access review by Judith Sixsmith, Meiko Makita, Deborah Menezes, Marianne Cranwell, Isaac Chau, Mark Smith, Susan Levy, Pat Scrutton and Mei Lan Fang, published May 11, 2023
This rapid realist review explored the key components of age-friendly ecosystems that promote community participation among older adults. The study synthesized evidence from 10 peer-reviewed and grey literature databases to identify the underlying mechanisms and contextual factors that shape why, under what circumstances, and for whom age-friendly ecosystems might be effective as well as the intervention outcomes. The review highlighted the importance of recognizing the diverse needs and preferences of older adults and involving them in the design and implementation of age-friendly ecosystems.
"Age-Friendly Cities in Latin America: A Human Ecological Framework," open access article by Jonathan R. Guillemot and Mildred E. Warner, published April 25, 2023
Despite the demographic aging of Latin America, the uptake of the WHO’s Age-Friendly Cities Framework remains extremely low, with the notable exceptions of Chile, Mexico and Brazil. Researchers argue for a broader human ecological framework, which focuses on the macro, meso and micro levels, to better address the context, challenges and opportunities for age-friendly cities in the Latin American region. The article calls for more attention to be paid to the macro policy scale to address concerns regarding migration, demography and social policy context. They also suggest more attention should be given to the micro scale to recognize the critical role of family and informal care supports.
"Variation in Implementing Dementia-Friendly Community Initiatives: Advancing Theory for Social Change," open access article by Clara J. Scher and Emily A. Greenfield, published April 21, 2023
Dementia-friendly communities (DFC) have emerged as a global movement to make communities more supportive and inclusive of people living with dementia (PLWD) and their care partners. This study contributes to a nascent body of research on DFC initiatives by building theory on their local implementation. Based on an analysis of data from semi-structured interviews with 23 leaders of initiatives in Massachusetts, US, the researchers aimed to identify key dimensions of variation in the implementation of DFC initiatives. Researchers found that all initiatives engaged in a common set of activities, such as the facilitation of training about dementia and improving services for PLWD. The findings suggest the importance of helping DFC initiative leaders more explicitly specify the focal ecological level of their efforts throughout the trajectory of their work, especially in the context of resource considerations. Results also indicate ways in which DFC initiative efforts at one systems level can support those at other levels over time.
Learn more about the Special Issue and published articles.
Learn more about Geriatrics journal.
