ABSTRACT

As the number of localities committing to age-friendly progress increases worldwide, there is growing interest in the processes and contexts that lead to systemic and long-term age-friendly community (AFC) impact. Our study aimed to advance research in this area by exploring community events as a mechanism through which practitioners work toward AFC goals. We used semi-structured interview data with core teams that participated in a multi-year developmental evaluation of eight grant-funded AFC initiatives in New Jersey. We employed a constructivist grounded theory approach to analyze the data, focusing on how AFC leaders facilitate events and what they perceive as the value of events. Findings highlighted the centrality of an inter-organizational context for event planning and implementation, as well as the unique positioning of AFC leaders relative to other community actors. Results further indicated that AFC leaders view events as immediately benefiting older adults and local organizational partners, while also having longer-term strategic value, including by deepening older adults’ engagement with the AFC initiative, providing opportunities for core teams to learn about aging in community, and expanding the AFC initiative’s community presence. We interpret these findings within a community-building framework, theorizing that events can strategically build relational capacity to sustain age-friendly progress within broader community systems.

摘要

随着全球范围内致力于老年友好型进步的地方数量的增加，人们对导致系统性和长期老年友好型社区 (AFC) 影响的过程和背景越来越感兴趣。我们的研究旨在通过探索社区活动作为从业者实现亚足联目标的机制来推进该领域的研究。我们使用了与核心团队的半结构化访谈数据，这些核心团队参与了对新泽西州八个由赠款资助的亚足联计划进行的多年发展评估。我们采用基于建构主义的理论方法来分析数据，重点关注亚足联领导人如何促进赛事以及他们认为赛事的价值是什么。调查结果强调了活动策划和实施的组织间环境的中心地位，以及亚足联领导人相对于其他社区参与者的独特定位。结果进一步表明，亚足联领导人认为活动可以立即使老年人和当地组织合作伙伴受益，同时也具有长期战略价值，包括加深老年人对亚足联倡议的参与，为核心团队提供了解社区老龄化的机会，并扩大亚足联倡议的社区影响力。我们在社区建设框架内解释这些发现，认为活动可以战略性地建立关系能力，以在更广泛的社区系统内维持关爱老人的进步。同时还具有长期战略价值，包括加深老年人对亚足联倡议的参与，为核心团队提供了解社区老龄化的机会，以及扩大亚足联倡议在社区的影响力。我们在社区建设框架内解释这些发现，认为活动可以战略性地建立关系能力，以在更广泛的社区系统内维持关爱老人的进步。同时还具有长期战略价值，包括加深老年人对亚足联倡议的参与，为核心团队提供了解社区老龄化的机会，以及扩大亚足联倡议在社区的影响力。我们在社区建设框架内解释这些发现，认为活动可以战略性地建立关系能力，以在更广泛的社区系统内维持关爱老人的进步。