Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Although the number of communities in Canada implementing age-friendly programming is growing every year, few of these programs have been evaluated. The current research used social capital theory - community trust and involvement - to study and evaluate age-friendly communities in Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) that has been implemented by the Government of NL. A mixed methods approach to data collection included a) surveys of 23 communities, including surveys completed by 45 individual age-friendly committee members, b) census and health data, and c) qualitative focus groups or interviews with 35 committee members in 11 communities, and with 43 seniors in 4 communities. In total, 108 people and 24 communities participated in this research. Communities were small in population and were located in rural areas of NL. Communities who had higher income levels had lower social capital, and those experiencing outmigration rated low on sense of community, suggesting a complex interplay between community population variables and social capital. Qualitative findings indicated benefits for communities related to intergenerational programming, and for seniors, related to health, social support, and technological education. Outmigration both increased the need for programming given aging populations, and created a challenge for program development given volunteer burnout, typically addressed by community capacity building and maximizing social capital resources. Those communities who experienced lower levels of social capital typically had more problems developing this capacity. Overall, social capital moderated the success of community-based initiatives in rural or small-town Newfoundland and Labrador. This research demonstrated significant benefits for seniors' health - their overall well being, social support, and physical activity, and made recommendations to the provincial government to enhance the program and to expand upon identified health benefits for seniors.