Age-Friendly Practice
Age-Friendly communities are not designated. They are committed to continuous work and the regular sharpening of the Age-Friendly lens. Without regular sharpening, civic systems quickly lose focus on the contemporary needs and opportunities of aging citizens.
A colleague recently shared about a similar concept from the world of martial arts. He told me that a black belt is not the finish line. He said that if he and his family would quit their regular practice, they would lose their black belt status. I love this concept that you have to do it in order to be it.
Aristotle is credited with the idea that we are what we repeatedly do. That excellence is not an act, but a habit. It’s not a designation, it’s a practice.
At Innovations in Aging Collaborative, Age-Friendly practice means at least two things:
- Maintaining the pulse on the local needs and opportunities of aging citizens.
- Maintaining a collaborative cross-sector network of community- and government-based leaders with a passion to serve aging from within their sector.
Age-Friendly practice keeps us prepared to act with data-backed, evidence-based strategies. We are cross-sector, systems-thinking champions, armed with frameworks and networks to serve aging at nearly any intersection of civic life — housing, parks, workforce, transportation, healthcare, built environment, and on and on.
You name it, we can Age-Friendly it. It’s what we repeatedly do.
