Heterogeneous Age-Friendly Environments among Age-Cohort Groups

Sojung Park,Sangchul Lee

doi:10.3390/su10041269

Sojung Park, Sangchul Lee

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su10041269

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Abstract

This study aimed to identify the underlying structures of age-friendly environmental characteristics and examine how they may vary across age-cohort groups based on life satisfaction. We used regionally representative data in South Korea. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted for age-friendly environmental indicators in three age-cohort groups. Regression models examined the association between the environmental factors and life satisfaction in the three age-cohort groups. Across all age groups, three factors converged: neighborhood problems, access to public services and programs, and community engagement. Regression analyses showed the three convergent environmental factors were all significantly associated with life satisfaction across all age-groups, but the association varies across the age-groups. The age-cohort based factor structures and differential patterns of association with well-being provide important background information on designing age-friendly communities.

Highlights

In this study, using regionally representative data developed by the Seoul City government based on the World Health Organization (WHO) framework, we conduct factor analyses to identify the structure of age-friendly environments and examine to what extent these environments are associated with the well-being of older individuals
The Seoul Welfare Foundation (SWF) developed indicators of an age-friendly environment using WHO Global Age-Friendly Cities Guidelines [36], a checklist for cities to assess their progress toward age friendliness
To date, limited empirical research has assessed the age-friendly environmental concept, making it difficult to know if the concept is generalizable and applicable across all older adults and different societies

Summary

Introduction

The present study aims to contribute to current knowledge of age-friendly environments in three respects. Chief among a number of barriers to conducting rigorous research on age-friendly communities is the absence of environmental measures from existing data sets. Most of the existing studies consist of descriptive examples of WHO initiatives to create age-friendly communities [4]. Developing reliable and parsimonious indicators of an age-friendly environment is an important step in designing and implementing policies and programs. In this study, using regionally representative data developed by the Seoul City government based on the WHO framework, we conduct factor analyses to identify the structure of age-friendly environments and examine to what extent these environments are associated with the well-being of older individuals

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