Paper short abstract:

This paper reviews the history of community advocacy,, the livable communities/communities for a lifetime movement, and describes a training curriculum designed to build a cadre of older adults and persons with disabilities to be effective advocates for communities for a lifetime.

Paper long abstract:

Support for developing "livable communities for all," "lifelong communities," "communities for a lifetime," "communities for all ages," or "age-friendly communities" has grown rapidly over the last decade, both in the U.S. and across the globe. Driven by the demographic changes of global aging, much of this support has focused on assisting communities to plan effectively, through physical design of neighborhoods, housing, transit, and enhanced services, for successful aging in place, but also for meeting the needs of residents of all ages without fostering competition between them. Engaging older adults and persons with disabilities in community and neighborhood planning and development efforts is essential if the age-friendly cities or communities for a lifetime goals are to be achieved. Yet, there are few older adults and persons with disabilities trained to act as effective advocates for the broad range of livability issues involved and to advocate for these issues within the context of creating communities and neighborhoods that work for all ages and abilities. That is, we must have advocates who can move beyond single issue advocacy, and who understand the many aspects of livable communities for all. This paper reviews the history of advocacy in addressing urban and community issues, the growth of urban planning as a tool for social change, the livable communities/communities for a lifetime movement, and describes a training curriculum designed to build a cadre of older adults and persons with disabilities to be effective advocates for communities for a lifetime.