Promoting aging-friendly urban neighborhoods: Evaluation of the Aging Well at Home Demonstration Program

The aging of the US population, coupled with the strong desire of the overwhelming majority of Americans to age-in-place or stay in their homes as they grow older, has and will continue to present challenges for local communities. The successful aging paradigm has underscored the importance of not only the immediate environment of home but also the physical and social environment of community on the well-being of seniors. Within the US and globally there is an emerging movement focused on transforming cities and towns to be aging-friendly or lifelong communities and a growing number of pilot programs and initiatives. One such example is the Aging Well at Home Program (AWAH), a 3-year demonstration project of the Jewish Family & Children's Services of Greater Boston which sought to adapt the Israeli Supportive Community Model to the US culture and test its effectiveness on 75 seniors living in an urban neighborhood in Brookline, MA. In this presentation, we describe the core components of the AWAH model and share data from its evaluation, including data on seniors' motivations for joining AWAH, their assessment of the quality of the experience and its impact on their emotional well-being. In fact, comparison of the pre- and post-enrollment data revealed a significant decline in seniors' levels of perceived stress but no significant differences in loneliness and depression. Finally, we will describe how AWAH was a catalyst for the creation of a citywide aging-friendly initiative and will highlight relevant policy and research recommendations.