OLDER ADULT ENGAGEMENT IN AGE-FRIENDLY COMMUNITY WORK

Abstract

Abstract Drawing on 22 interviews with older adults across four states, this qualitative study explores how older adults perceive their age-friendly community work and the personal meaning they derive from participation. Based on iterative coding, findings indicate ways in which geographic differences in the structure and framing of local age-friendly community initiatives set the boundaries, scope, and potential customization of older adult engagement. Across geographies, motivations for starting and sustaining engagement included: perceived personal growth; social connectivity; outlets for advancing skills and passions; and satisfaction from making a difference in the lives of older adults and their broader community. These findings highlight the importance of conceptualizing older adult engagement in age-friendly community work as a dynamic process embedded within intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational, and community contexts. Demonstrating multiple ways older adults contribute to placemaking, the findings have implications for older adult engagement at various levels and stages of age-friendly community initiatives.