Introducing the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities

Membership in the network:

• Helps local leaders identify and understand community needs

• Serves as an organizing structure for making community improvements

• Fosters partnerships among community groups and local stakeholders

• Provides leadership opportunities for volunteers

• Enables changes that benefit people of all ages

Membership provides a community with:

• Public recognition for committing to becoming age-friendly

• Resources for identifying and assessing community needs

• Access to technical assistance and expert-led webinars

• Support and best practice materials from AARP

What membership isn't:

• Communities in the AARP age-friendly network are not retirement villages, gated developments, nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Nor are they planned communities or age-restricted housing developments.

• Membership in the network does not mean that the community is, currently, "age-friendly" or a great place to retire.

• Membership in the network does not mean AARP endorses the towns, cities, counties or states as places to live.

AARP and the network:

The AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities advances efforts to help people live easily and comfortably in their homes and communities as they age. AARP’s presence encourages older adults to take a more active role in their communities and have their voices heard. Initiatives focus on areas such as housing, caregiving, community engagement, volunteering, social inclusion and combating isolation among older citizens.

AARP works with local officials and partner organizations around the country to identify communities for membership in the age-friendly network. AARP facilitates the community's enrollment and guides its representatives through the network’s implementation and assessment process.

Combined with the resources provided by AARP — either through AARP.org/Livable (this website) or the AARP Public Policy Institute — the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities program supports AARP's goal of being recognized by elected officials and others as a leading resource for how to improve the livability of communities for people age 50 or older and their families.

The program emphasizes both the built and the social environment, and helps refine what it means for AARP to have a community presence. The AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities program is a tool that can be used by AARP staff and others to help local leaders prepare and ultimately change their communities to become great places for everyone to live.

After enrolling in the network:

• Age-friendly initiatives are catalyzing local policy change: 73% of member communities achieved a change in public policy, most often by integrating an “age-friendly lens” into community planning

• Public and private entities are investing in local programs and projects: 63% of respondents said that they had received funding or an in-kind donation from the public sector (primarily from municipal government) and 41% received resources from the private sector.

• The NAFSC 5-year program cycle and framework is setting communities up for success: 96% of respondents were able to overcome barriers to improving the community for older residents, such as raising awareness about livability issues, increasing collaborations within the community, and implementing educational and engagement programs

^{* Survey distributed to members of the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities (October 2023)}