Contribution of the age-friendly communities in the well-being of the older adults: a study of Pune City

ABSTRACT

This research investigates the contribution of age-friendly communities to Pune people’s well-being. This study assesses the relation between the eight dimensions of age-friendly communities, as the WHO suggested, and the life satisfaction of older adults. The dimensions studied include outdoor spaces and buildings, social participation, transportation, respect and social inclusion, housing, civic participation and employment, community support and health services, and communication and information. The research methodology involved primary data collection through a survey, and analysis was done using structural equation modelling. The findings of this study suggest that age-friendly communities significantly impact the life satisfaction of the older adult population in Pune. Specifically, the dimensions of social participation, community support and health services, and respect and social inclusion had the greatest impact on life satisfaction among older adults. These findings highlight the significance of developing age-friendly communities to promote the well-being of the older adult population in India. This study offers insightful results for policymakers, community leaders, and individuals advocating active and healthy ageing among older adults.

KEYWORDS:

• Active-ageing
• age-friendly community
• urban
• life-satisfaction
• India
• older adults

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Geolocation information

GPPJ+2J Lavale, Mulshi, Pune, Maharashtra 412,115, 18.5347° N, 73.7316° E

Additional information

Funding

We received no funding from any institute or agency to support this work.

Notes on contributors

Amey Khare

Amey Khare research assistant and PhD Scholar at Symbiosis International University. He has a strong focus on the area of Urban Development with a specific emphasis on creating inclusive cities for older adults. He has prior experience working as an Associate in the insurance industry, field research, and customer service. During his tenure as an intern, worked on two of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development’s (NABARD) projects, where he was responsible for conducting field surveys, data entry, and secondary analysis of the data related to the domains of health, water, and sanitation in the state of Maharashtra.

Anam Fatma

Anam Fatma graduated from Aligarh Muslim University with a master’s degree in Agribusiness Management and currently working as a Junior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Management at Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune. Her research interests relate to consumer behaviour in the tourism industry, focusing on customer engagement, behavioural intentions, and urban development, etc.

Madhura Bedarkar

Madhura Bedarkar is an Associate Professor and Deputy Director at Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune, with a PhD in Economics from the University of Mumbai and a Master’s degree in Personnel Management from the University of Pune. With over 12 years in academia, Madhura’s areas of expertise include sustainability, social and women entrepreneurship, and she has published her research in reputed journals. She has also delivered training sessions to corporates and mentored aspiring entrepreneurs, and has received project funding from the Ministry of Education to study women entrepreneurship in India.

Vimal Bhatt

Dr. Vimal Bhatt is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune. He has a total academic experience of more than 17 years. His teaching interests focus on Consumer Behaviour, Marketing Management, and Application of Artificial Intelligence in Marketing. He currently teaches the core marketing subjects. His research interests focus on customer experience management, customer engagement, etc. He has to his credit several journal publications, including several Scopus and ABDC publications.