Building off the work and tools of Reframing Aging and the Age Inclusivity Domains of Higher Education (AIDHE) initiative, a new guide was released by Gerontological Society of America (GSA) to promote age-inclusive communication in higher education. While the guide is geared towards higher education institutions, it also provides an opportunity for age-friendly communities to work with college and universities.

The Age Inclusivity in Higher Education (AIDHE) model includes practices to create an age-inclusive learning and work environment across seven institutional domains within higher education: Teaching & Learning, Services & Resources, Student Affairs, Physical Environment, Research, Personnel, and Outreach & Engagement. For each domain, we present some strategies to address age-inclusive messaging
and show how the principles to reframe aging and related considerations might apply. The model was developed with leadership by Lasell University and UMass-Boston.

An “age-inclusive” approach embraces the concept of ensuring higher education provides meaningful experiences across the entire life-course for all. For example, in addition to offering programs for age-diverse learners, an age-inclusive campus’s services and resources will provide healthcare services that meet the needs of individuals of all ages and acknowledge and address challenges that family caregivers face. Similarly, their personnel policies and practices uphold age inclusivity as part of their larger diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

The Age Inclusivity in Higher Education Quick Start Guide is available here, along with an infographic here – both are helpful tools for creating partnerships between age-friendly communities and universities.