Age-friendly community models primarily focus on government-initiated planning efforts designed to modify cities’ physical and social infrastructures. Considerably less attention has been given to the potential role of nongovernmental organizations in promoting community-wide age-friendly efforts. One social organization that has received a great deal of attention since it was first developed in 2001 is the Village model, a membership-based grassroots initiative that facilitates social engagement, as well as access to services (Scharlach, Graham, & Lehning, 2012). Using data from a national survey, this chapter explores the potential role of Villages in fostering age friendliness within organized groups, as well as within the overall community. // (2017)
