Exploring Sectoral Reach in Age-Friendly Communities

Abstract

Abstract Background and Objectives There is growing interest in better understanding the sectoral reach of age-friendly community practice. Action across a wide range of actors is central to achieving age-friendly societal change, according to the World Health Organization and required for governmental participation in its Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the scope of sectoral reach by age-friendly communities. Research Design and Methods We used qualitative inquiry to assess sectoral efforts reported by American age-friendly communities that completed a 5-year cycle of participation (n = 40). We employed directed content analysis using a priori indicators by sectoral actors: public (i.e., government), private (i.e., business), and civil society, including nonprofit organizations and volunteers. We classify sectoral actions by type (i.e., intersectoral and multisectoral) and by clustered domain community foci (i.e., built, social, and service). Results Our study identifies the extent and types of sectoral actors and actions reported by age-friendly communities with the greatest efforts reported in the public sector, and while similarly distributed across all the domains, slightly more efforts were noted in the built environment. We also found greater intersectoral efforts (i.e., explicitly working toward shared goals) than multisectoral (i.e., not necessarily in collaboration on shared goals), particularly across government. Discussion and Implications While our study substantiates the breadth of actions toward age-friendly change, additional research is needed to examine the ways in which the public and other sectoral actions are further linked to outcomes in communities in the United States and in other countries.