Age-friendly NYC — a partnership between the city council, the mayor's office and The New York Academy of Medicine — implemented the World Health Organization's age-friendly communities model in April to delay and reduce disability and dependence among the city's elderly.
Although Age-friendly NYC has engaged thousands of older people throughout the city since 2007, the partnership has made considerable improvements to policy, programs and practices related to the aging population since the implementation of the WHO model, according to a new report from the Milbank Memorial Fund.
Highlighted below are five results of the partnership's efforts over the years, including the months since using the WHO model.
1. Pedestrian safety improved. New York saw pedestrian fatalities among older people decrease 10 percent after extending pedestrian crossing times at crosswalks to accommodate slower walking speeds, constructing pedestrian safety islands, widening curbs and medians, narrowing roadways and installing new stop controls and signals.
2. Transportation locations enhance safety. By constructing 4,000 new bus shelters and 1,300 new benches, New York has made the city more comfortable and safer for aging adults.
3. Stores are more age-friendly. Age-friendly NYC worked with 30,000 storefront businesses to add more seating in stores, make signage more legible and launch new senior discounts
4. Exercise opportunities have grown. The parks department added senior-only swim hours and water aerobics classes for older people at 16 public pools. The department also discounted rates for certain exercise programs for seniors.
5. Public resources are shared. The partnership designed program to use public resources to help aging adults. For instance, one program uses public school buses to drive older people in underserved areas to supermarkets.
To read Milbank Memorial Fund's full report on supporting America's aging population, click here.
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