Citation

Menec VH, Newall NE, Nowicki S. J. Appl. Gerontol. 2014; 35(5): 549-565.

Affiliation

University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0733464814542612

PMID

25098252

Abstract

The notion of age-friendliness is gaining increasing attention from policy makers and researchers. 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.

Language: en