To date, a range of qualitative and mixed-methods approaches have been applied to assess the age-friendliness of cities and communities. The Age-Friendly Cities and Communities Questionnaire (AFCCQ) has been developed to fill a gap for a systematic quantitative method approach to evaluate baseline age-friendliness in cities and communities and then measure ongoing efforts to become more age-friendly, aligned with the model by the World Health Organization (WHO). As such, it offers a valid and valuable quantitative method for cities to assess age-friendliness.
This paper presents the process and results of a study undertaken to test the validity and reliability of the AFCCQ for the Australian context. It is part of a broader cross-cultural project seeking to test the AFCCQ across Europe, Asia, Oceania, and North America to generate methodological insight and comparable data. Informed by consultation with local experts in population and ageing research, as well as with people aged 65 and over, the instrument proved reliable in the Australian context before being distributed to 334 older people in Greater Adelaide for validation.
Results show that the AFCCQ-AU proved a valid and reliable tool for evaluating the age-friendliness of larger cities and communities in Australia. Overall, the total score indicated moderate-good satisfaction with the age-friendliness features of the Greater Adelaide Region with the domain of Housing scoring highest (highly satisfactory). Psychometric validation and cluster analysis led to the identification of five typologies of older people living in Greater Adelaide, characterised by distinct socio-demographic profiles and concomitant experiences and evaluations of age-friendliness.
This Australian validation adds further weight to the role of the AFCCQ in being able to assess the age-friendliness of cities and communities across the WHO's Global Network for Age-Friendly Cities and Communities. Used in combination with the rich and nuanced qualitative data at the local level, the tool has the ability to create significant outcomes for older people and their communities.
