Health & Human services

Long Beach Age-Friendly Initiative

In January 2018, the City of Long Beach made a public commitment to enhance the quality of life of residents as they age by joining AARP’s Network of Age-Friendly Communities. In response to the challenges and opportunities of our aging society, in recent decades, there has been a growing emphasis on making existing systems and structures more “age-friendly.” This approach acknowledges the importance of assessing the fit between individual needs and preferences with their surrounding environment.

The Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, in partnership with Parks,
Recreation & Marine, health plans, local non-profits, academia, and public and private leaders will convene the Long Beach Age-Friendly Consortium in the Summer/Fall 2018. The Consortium will be a body of dedicated professionals and leaders meeting across one Steering Committee and four workgroups to prepare for the growing aging population through innovative strategies to improve health outcomes and build communities that are committed to giving residents of all ages the opportunity to live rewarding, productive, and safe lives.

The Age-Friendly Consortium will help develop, implement and evaluate a multi-year Citywide Action Plan to better address the needs of older adults by ensuring structures and services are accessible and inclusive of older adults with varying needs and capacities.

The following are the five strategic focus areas of the Long Beach Age-Friendly Initiative. During 2019, the Age-Friendly Consortium will focus on only four of the five strategic focus areas.

Long Beach Age-Friendly Domains and Strategic Focus Areas

1. Housing*
2. Transportation
3. Health
4. Safety at Home and in the Community
5. Quality of Life

*Housing is a critical strategic focus area among older adults that is currently being discussed as part of Everyone Home Long Beach. Designed to build on the City’s comprehensive homeless assistance and affordable housing efforts already underway, Everyone Home Long Beach will look at innovative approaches to provide new pathways into home and prevent residents of all ages from falling into homelessness. 

Reports and Publications

Long Beach Age-Friendly Community Gap Analysis
Older Adult Strategic Plan Update 2016
Aging Reimagined 2.0 Conference Presentation 5/1/18
Executive Summary Long Beach Age-Friendly Community Gap Analysis

Questions?

Please contact the Healthy Aging Center at: HealthyAgingCenter@longbeach.gov