This article takes a look at a number of local, regional, and national and transnational initiatives launched in recent years to help communities become more aging friendly. The author examines the focus of change efforts, age-specific versus age-integrated initiatives, mechanisms of change. He shows how some models have focused on improving access to a variety of forms of social support, and describes the workings of the relatively small number of initiatives that address real system change, empowering older people within institutions. // (2009)
