Document Type
Article
Abstract
Accurate conceptualization and measurement of age-friendly community characteristics would help to reduce barriers to documenting the effects on elders of interventions to create such communities. This article contributes to the measurement of age-friendly communities through an exploratory factor analysis of items reflecting an existing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency policy framework. From a sample of urban elders (n =1,376), we identified six factors associated with demographic and health characteristics: Access to Business and Leisure, Social Interaction, Access to Health Care, Neighborhood Problems, Social Support, and Community Engagement. Future research should explore the effects of these factors across contexts and populations.
Disciplines
Community-Based Research | Social Work
Recommended Citation
Smith, R. J., Lehning, A. J., & Dunkle, R. E. (2013). Conceptualizing Age-Friendly Community Characteristics in a Sample of Urban Elders: An Exploratory Factor Analysis. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 56(2), 90–111. doi:10.1080/01634372.2012.739267
Unformatted authors' final accepted manuscript
Comments
NOTICE IN COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLISHER POLICY: This is an Author’s Accepted Manuscript of an article published in the Journal of Gerontological Social Work 56(2), 2013, ©Copyright Taylor & Francis, and available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/01634372.2012.739267. It has been formatted for archiving; pagination has been added for this version.