Viewpoints of Older People Toward the Features of Age-Friendly Communities: Map for Charting Progress in Tabriz, Iran

Abstract

The number of older people living in urban environments is growing dramatically. Adhering to a set of standards is essential to achieve a desirable living setting. In order to assess strengths and deficiencies, older people described how the checklist of essential features of age-friendly cities matches their own experiences. The descriptive study was conducted with the participation of 384 older people from Tabriz, Iran, who were selected randomly, from all over the city. The degree of conformity of city characteristics was described with the standards with a score of 0–100. The mean age of participants was 68.2 ± 0.35 years. More than half of the respondents (56.5%) were men and approximately one-third of the participants were illiterate and 80% were married respectively. The most satisfying dimension was the outdoor spaces and buildings (32.06 ± 11.94) and the least one was the communication and information (9 ± 0.27). Fragmented systems and services were a general challenge. Inadequate coordination between the public service organizations and consumers prevented the area’s wealth of resources from reaching their full potential.

Keywords:

• Age-friendly communities
• older people
• transportation
• social support
• healthcare services

Acknowledgments

We really appreciate deputy of research and technology for their valuable supports. We also are most grateful for the assistance given by the facilitators and participants.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s). The authors have no financial relationships relevant to this article. None of the authors has received support for this work that influenced its outcome.

Data availability statement

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

Author contributions

SS, HM and AS designed the study, conducted the statistical analysis, and led the writing of the manuscript. AZZ and SS helped to conceptualize the study, and made a major contribution to data collection, the introduction, and discussion sections. All authors have contributed to and approved the final manuscript.