Assessing Communities Age-Friendliness: How Congruent Are Subjective Versus Objective Assessments?

In this study, we examine the congruence between two types of age-friendly surveys: subjective assessments by community residents versus objective assessments by municipal officials. The study was based on data from 39 mostly rural communities in Manitoba, Canada, in which a municipal official and residents (M = 25 residents per community) completed a survey to assess age-friendly features in a range of domains, such as transportation and housing. Congruence between the two surveys was generally good, although the municipal official survey consistently overestimated communities’ age-friendliness, relative to residents’ ratings. The findings suggest that a survey completed by municipal officials can provide a reasonable assessment of age-friendliness that may be useful for certain purposes, such as cross-community comparisons. However, some caution is warranted when using only these surveys for community development, as they may not adequately reflect residents’ views.

Source: Journal of Applied Gerontology - April 12, 2016 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Menec, V. H., Newall, N. E. G., Nowicki, S. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research