Lifelong Living Communities – creating vibrant neighborhoods for aging
In 2002 Indianapolis was one of ten communities from across the country chosen to participate in a community-building effort to prepare for our aging population and become “elder-friendly.” Developed by the Center for Home Care Policy and Research, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, the AdvantAge Initiative is a model for building communities that are truly elder-friendly. The model depicts four “domains” for action:
(click here for diagram)
Locally CICOA, the area agency for aging in central Indiana, took the lead in the effort. We completed a survey of seniors aged 65 and over in Marion county to gather data to use in directing our efforts to make Indianapolis the most elder-friendly area in the country. The survey results underwent a thorough analysis by teams of local community leaders who then produced a list of key recommendations. (click here)
By providing much-needed, specific goals and objectives the AdvantAge Initiative gave us a great start to building a world-class, elder friendly community. The next step was to begin the work. CICOA incorporated the AdvantAge Initiative into CICOA as on ongoing function because its objective is also the core of our mission. It has been recast as Lifelong Living Communities, an initiative to create vibrant neighborhoods for aging.