Increasing Chicago's capacity to sustain an aging population

The concept of age friendliness has been globally coined by the World Health Organization (WHO) to give value to the physical, social and environmental factors which can promote or hinder older residents’ ability to age in place in cities. Age-friendly cities can benefit not only older adults, but also their families and their communities. Cities which ostensibly rate quality of life are more likely to achieve economic sustainability Recent proliferation of research literature and checklists describing age specific indicators makes it timely to synthesize the characteristics that make a community more livable and facilitative of elder well-being and the indicators which can rate those characteristics. Our environmental scan will be the first comprehensive summary of age-friendly city indicators and their application worldwide to date. It will enable us to fast track the development of ward level age indicators ensuring that age related issues are included in future local debate about the characteristics and services required by communities in anticipation of demographic change. Community stakeholders and aldermen will be invited to adapt the age friendly indicators to best meet the needs of their populations. Involving stakeholders in the selection and prioritization of age indicators is a first step towards understanding the core ingredients and characteristics of sustainable multi-generational communities. The indicators may also point to characteristics that may need to be modified to improve the quality of life for residents. Strategies to achieve change include engaging key stakeholders in assessments of ward levels of age friendliness, partnering with the City in the development of city wide age indicators and disseminating findings via a city wide pilot survey.