Dr. Joseph Gaugler

You know, that's a great question, Clarence. I'm sure there's a list. I know I just had to cite this for a paper I was writing a couple of months ago. There are hundreds of age-friendly communities in the U.S.,

You know, that's a great question, Clarence. I'm sure there's a list. I know I just had to cite this for a paper I was writing a couple of months ago. There are hundreds of age-friendly communities in the U.S.,

Um, and usually what that entails is kind of building coalitions and partnerships often amongst organizations that maybe wouldn't originally think about themselves as being on the forefront of age friendliness. You know, it could be the local library, the local police department, local businesses, et cetera.

Um, and usually what that entails is kind of building coalitions and partnerships often amongst organizations that maybe wouldn't originally think about themselves as being on the forefront of age friendliness. You know, it could be the local library, the local police department, local businesses, et cetera.

And then those communities go through this process to more or less become quote unquote age friendly. Now, I'll share something what I think, Clarence, and this is an issue with age friendliness. If you drove into an age friendly community, would you know it's age friendly? I'm not sure you would, and I don't know. You know, ideally, what should an age friendly community look like?

And then those communities go through this process to more or less become quote unquote age friendly. Now, I'll share something what I think, Clarence, and this is an issue with age friendliness. If you drove into an age friendly community, would you know it's age friendly? I'm not sure you would, and I don't know. You know, ideally, what should an age friendly community look like?

There should be infrastructure built in such a way that can allow older people to more easily navigate their neighborhoods, to identify the social and other resources and access those resources more easily. Whether there's a blueprint out there where I can say, look, Clarence, take this checklist, go to, you know, Albert Lee's a good example. You know, that's a blue zone.

There should be infrastructure built in such a way that can allow older people to more easily navigate their neighborhoods, to identify the social and other resources and access those resources more easily. Whether there's a blueprint out there where I can say, look, Clarence, take this checklist, go to, you know, Albert Lee's a good example. You know, that's a blue zone.

I'm sure many people consider that's probably age-friendly. Go down there and hear Clarence. Here's the checklist. Come back and let's rate it. I don't think the age-friendly movement has gotten that far yet. It's much more been focused on what are the partnerships and relationships that need to be built to begin to think about how, you know, each community can make themselves age-friendly and

I'm sure many people consider that's probably age-friendly. Go down there and hear Clarence. Here's the checklist. Come back and let's rate it. I don't think the age-friendly movement has gotten that far yet. It's much more been focused on what are the partnerships and relationships that need to be built to begin to think about how, you know, each community can make themselves age-friendly and

But there's a lot more work that needs to be done, for lack of a better term, and forgive me, I'm a researcher, but to measure age-friendly. There have been tools developed, but I don't know how widely they've been applied to communities. So if I drive down to Albert Lee, can I say with all confidence, this is age-friendly?

But there's a lot more work that needs to be done, for lack of a better term, and forgive me, I'm a researcher, but to measure age-friendly. There have been tools developed, but I don't know how widely they've been applied to communities. So if I drive down to Albert Lee, can I say with all confidence, this is age-friendly?

The other thing I'll say, too, about age-friendly and this whole movement, this principle is is age-friendly has gone beyond just communities. There's an age-friendly university movement. So we engaged with the leadership at the University of Minnesota, our Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation, and the University of Minnesota became the first age-friendly university in the state.

The other thing I'll say, too, about age-friendly and this whole movement, this principle is is age-friendly has gone beyond just communities. There's an age-friendly university movement. So we engaged with the leadership at the University of Minnesota, our Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation, and the University of Minnesota became the first age-friendly university in the state.

And really all that was was just a series of actions we had to take, including some assessments and other things, to become age-friendly. But then it kind of stopped. And so luckily, under the leadership of Rajan Moon, Dr. Rajan Moon, who's one of our associate directors, we have a very vibrant age-friendly council. We have age-friendly university day, et cetera.

And really all that was was just a series of actions we had to take, including some assessments and other things, to become age-friendly. But then it kind of stopped. And so luckily, under the leadership of Rajan Moon, Dr. Rajan Moon, who's one of our associate directors, we have a very vibrant age-friendly council. We have age-friendly university day, et cetera.

But we have work to do to go beyond just creating a checklist saying, okay, we did this, this, this, this. Okay, we're age-friendly. And more about measuring and evaluating and identifying metrics to ensure that you indeed are age-friendly. Similarly with age-friendly health systems, et cetera.

But we have work to do to go beyond just creating a checklist saying, okay, we did this, this, this, this. Okay, we're age-friendly. And more about measuring and evaluating and identifying metrics to ensure that you indeed are age-friendly. Similarly with age-friendly health systems, et cetera.

That's a good point, Stan. I haven't heard that term used in the context of age-friendly.

That's a good point, Stan. I haven't heard that term used in the context of age-friendly.