TOOL KITS AND GUIDES FOR GETTING STARTED

Application/Pledge: The age-friendly application materials are available here. Separately, Dementia Friendly Massachusetts has a pledge communities can sign here and MHAC encourages alignment among local and regional age- and dementia-friendly initiatives.

Age-Friendly Communities Resources
Source: AARP
This resource list provides an introductory booklet to age-friendly initiatives along with tools to help communities develop assessments, action planning and evaluation. The AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities is the US affiliate of the World Health Organization’s Age-Friendly Cities and Communities Program.

Age- and Dementia Friendly Integration Toolkit
Source: MA Executive Office of Elder Affairs
Massachusetts developed this toolkit to simplify a community’s work to meet the needs of residents as they age. It brings together resources from the national and global age-friendly and dementia friendly movements and directs users to guidance, examples, and case studies. It also includes an aligned framework between the “Eight Domains” developed by WHO and the sectors of a Dementia Friendly community.

Roadmap to Livability Series
Source: AARP
A series of six workbooks developed by AARP to help communities conduct listening sessions and address

Health Equity Guidebook
Source: MetroWest Health Foundation
While this report is geared towards the MetroWest region, it includes important data, external resources, definitions, and concepts that can benefit any community or organization looking to make a positive impact on health equity. The Mass. Healthy Aging Collaborative uses this guidebook as a resource for its work to address access, equity, and inclusion.

Aging Power Tools (2013)
Source: Grantmakers in Aging (GIA)
This curated selection of resources promotes stronger, age-friendly communities.

Age-Friendly World: Guides and Tool Kits (2015)
Source: World Health Organization
Description: A website with information and guidelines on age-friendly cities and communities in both urban and rural settings.

A Blueprint for Action: Developing a Livable Community for All Ages (2013)
Source: N4A, Partnership for Livable Communities
This quick-reference provides tools, resources, and best practices. It includes information based on community experiences in building local leadership and solving specific challenges relating to aging.

AARP Imagining Livability Design Collection (2015)
Source: AARP
The tools listed here can help towns, cities, and neighborhoods achieve both subtle and spectacular transformations.