Abstract
The global ageing phenomenon poses significant challenges for urban and community planning, leading to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Age-friendly Cities and Communities (AFCC) initiative to support older adults in ageing well within their homes and neighbourhoods. In Aotearoa New Zealand, the AFCC framework has been integrated into national policy; however, locally validated tools for assessing the age-friendliness of local communities are not available. This study aimed to validate the Age-friendly Cities and Communities Questionnaire for New Zealand (AFCCQ-NZ) and to evaluate age-friendliness in Napier City, where 21.1% of residents are aged 65 years or older. A two-phase design was employed. Phase 1 established face and content validity through consultation with policy experts and older adults to ensure cultural and linguistic relevance. Phase 2 involved psychometric validation using confirmatory factor analysis, resulting in a 23-item instrument encompassing the eight WHO AFCC domains plus an additional domain on perceived financial wellbeing. The AFCCQ-NZ demonstrated excellent model fit and internal consistency. Survey data from 354 older adults indicated moderate to high satisfaction with age-friendly features, with housing rated most positively and transportation, community support, health services and financial situation rated lowest. Cluster analysis identified five distinct resident typologies, revealing heterogeneity in older adults’ experiences. The AFCCQ-NZ offers a robust tool for assessing age-friendliness and informing local planning. The findings underscore the importance of the authentic and genuine engagement and inclusion of older adults in the age-friendly planning, implementation and evaluation process.
Introduction
There is an undeniable ageing of the world’s population, and this phenomenon is set to continue for some time yet. The United Nations (2023) determined that by 2050 the number of people aged 65 years and over is expected to double from 761 million in 2021 to 1.6 billion in 2050. This equates to 16% of the world’s population identifying as older adults. This demographic shift will require changes to the physical, social and cultural aspects of our communities (Hyde, 2024). Ultimately, this requires significant modifications to how older people function and structure how and where they live. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2007) describes cities and communities that provide supportive environments for older adults as age friendly.
The WHO AFCC programme was first launched in 2007. The purpose of the programme is to support and promote active ageing by making cities and communities more inclusive and enabling older people to live in their own home in a neighbourhood of their choice. The central tenets of the programme are based on eight key domains that support ageing in place and active ageing: outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, civic participation and employment, communication and information, as well as community support and health services (WHO, 2007). Being deemed age friendly translates into communities supporting older adults to age well in their own homes within familiar neighbourhoods, both in urban and rural communities (Montayre et al., 2022). This leads to increased independence, a sense of fulfilment, as well as improved health and wellbeing (Napier et al., 2023).
In response to the global ageing phenomenon, recent international policy provides directives and support for age-friendly initiatives through the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030). This initiative aims to provide older people the opportunity to age well, no matter their location, through addressing ageism, ensuring environments are age friendly, delivering person-centred integrated care and primary health services and providing access to long-term care when needed (WHO, 2020). The Decade of Healthy Ageing provides guidance and direction to governments when setting older-person policy agendas. Governments can then be assured that they are focussing on the requisite issues that impact on the health and wellbeing of older citizens; for example, working towards ensuring cities and human settlements are inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (United Nations, 2024). The WHO (2024) offers guidance on measuring the progress and impact of this Decade of Healthy Ageing, which is particularly relevant given the need for measurable evidence-based design recommendations for age-friendly cities and communities (Van Hoof and Marston, 2025). An overview of various tools and methodologies for the assessment of age-friendliness of cities and communities has been provided by Van Hoof et al. (2021), including a set of validated questionnaires and surveys.
International older-person policy serves as a foundation for work undertaken in New Zealand by the Office for Seniors, located in the Ministry of Social Development; for example, the development of two major ageing strategies, ‘Healthy Ageing Strategy 2016’ (Associate Minister of Health, 2016) and ‘Better Later Life—He Oranga Kaumātua’ (Minister for Seniors, 2019), both of which reference AFCC. The main function of the Office for Seniors is to advise central government on key issues impacting older citizens and to support healthy ageing across the country (Neville et al., 2021).
New Zealand is an active member of the WHO Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities, which was established in 2010 and which in 2025 had over 1700 members worldwide (WHO, 2025). Since 2010, multiple cities in New Zealand have become members of this network, and the country itself also has a national age-friendly strategy. This demonstrates the country’s commitment to becoming age friendly and to ensuring cities and communities are appropriate places for older people to age in. The Office for Seniors makes available numerous public resources to support cities and communities to be age friendly. These include branded merchandise, toolkits to assist communities to become age friendly, networking opportunities and a small grants programme to support the development of age-friendly initiatives at a local government level (Neville et al., 2025a). The latest initiative led by the Office for Seniors is the validation of the AFCCQ (Dikken et al., 2020) for use within the New Zealand context.
Objectives
Question: How do older adults experience the age-friendliness of a provincial city in New Zealand?
Aims
To validate the AFCCQ for use in the New Zealand context.
To investigate the age-friendliness of Napier City, using the AFCCQ.
Methods and validation
In this study, the AFCCQ (Dikken et al., 2020; Van Hoof et al., 2022, 2024) was adapted and validated for use in New Zealand, leading to the AFCCQ-NZ. Additionally, insights were gained into how a diverse group of older adults in Napier City, located in the Hawke’s Bay region of New Zealand’s North Island, perceived the age-friendliness of their community. The AFCCQ-NZ provides baseline assessments of a community’s age-friendliness from the perspectives of older people themselves and quantitatively evaluates the impact of local age-friendly policies.
The original AFCCQ is a 23-item questionnaire that encompasses the WHO’s eight domains for age-friendly cities plus an extra domain focusing on the perceived financial situation of older individuals, making a total of nine domains. Using a five-point Likert scale, older citizens assess various facets of living in their city or community based on current personal household and neighbourhood circumstances. This study adheres to the criteria outlined by the Consensus-based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments (Mokkink et al., 2010). The validation of the AFCCQ-NZ followed a two-phase process: Phase 1 involved securing face and content validation, with a specific focus on linguistic and cultural relevance; and Phase 2 focused on psychometrically validating the tool to assess reliability and validity.
The profile of Napier City
According to Statistics New Zealand (2023), as of June 2023 Napier City had a population of 64,695, with people aged 65 years and over comprising 21.1% of the total population. In comparison, 16.6% of people in New Zealand are classified as being older adults, highlighting the city’s older population profile. This demographic trend accentuates the importance of ensuring that physical and social environments are ‘fit for purpose’ through the implementation of age-friendly initiatives and services tailored to the needs of older residents living in this geographical location.
Face and content validation
Phase 1 of the New Zealand study determined the face and content validity of the AFCCQ for use within a New Zealand context. Five age-friendly experts, comprised of government policy makers and academic researchers, assessed the AFCCQ for use in the New Zealand context, rating each item on its relevance to the construct and study population using a four-point Likert scale. Simultaneously, five older adults residing in Napier City evaluated the questionnaire’s readability, cultural congruence and relevance to assessing the city’s liveability.
The Item Content Validity Index (I-CVI) was used, with scores above 0.78 considered valid (Lynn, 1986). An overall Scale Content Validity Index/Ave (S-CVI/Ave) above 0.90 was obtained, indicating excellent validity. Only when both older adults and experts scored an I-CVI lower than 0.78 would the research team have considered deleting an item. SPSS version 29.0 facilitated data analysis (IBM Corp, 2021).
The check on the cultural congruence of the AFCCQ followed Sousa and Rojjanasrirat’s (2011) method using the original British English version of the AFCCQ (Dikken et al., 2020), as well as the adaptations made by a team of scholars from Adelaide, South Australia when conducting work for the validation of the AFCCQ-AU (Wasserman et al., 2025).
Psychometric validation
In this phase of the present study, the goal was to evaluate the construct validity of the AFCCQ-NZ through undertaking a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). This method allows researchers to directly examine hypotheses regarding how items correspond to latent factors, providing the requisite evidence about the model’s fit with the data and the effectiveness of the scale in measuring its intended constructs. The process followed aligned with the same approach undertaken in other countries, including Australia, which is largely similar in its socio-cultural composition to New Zealand (Ayalon et al., 2024, Wasserman et al., 2025; Van Hoof et al., 2024). Undertaking this process ensured a robust methodological congruence across different versions of the AFCCQ instrument.
Data collection and participants
The New Zealand study was approved by the Wintec Human Ethics Research Group (approval reference: WTLR12180424, 3 May 2024). A purposive sampling strategy was used to determine participants for this study. The inclusion criteria included being aged 65 years and over and living in the Napier City Council area. Napier City Council oversaw the recruitment phase of the project through a variety of means, including poster displays in libraries, community halls and council facilities, digital screen displays in the Napier City Council Customer Service Centre and via social media, including paid Facebook posts targeted to the demographic. All promotional material contained information about the study, as well as how to access the online or paper-based version of the questionnaire. Completed questionnaires were considered as having given informed consent to participate. A sample size calculation was undertaken and determined that between 200 and 385 people aged 65 years and over were needed to validate the AFCCQ-NZ.
Before beginning the questionnaire, participants were asked three screening questions to ensure eligibility to participate. The questionnaire took approximately 10 minutes to complete, which included additional demographic questions to determine key characteristics of the population group that enabled researchers to describe participants, and to compare with AFCCQ-AU data, as well as other global study samples. Napier City Council provided volunteers to assist older people with completing the questionnaire if required.
Analysis for validation
A CFA model structure was undertaken that tested whether the relationships between variables aligned with previous studies that validated the AFCCQ (Dikken et al., 2020). The model allowed correlated age-friendly factors to co-vary. The following fit indices were used. Normed χ2 was used, preferably scoring below 2 (Shadfar and Malekmohammadi, 2013), although values up to 5 are also accepted (Schumacker and Lomax, 2004). The robust comparative fit index (CFI) and Tucker–Lewis index (TLI) targeted 0.9 or higher (Hu and Bentler, 1995). Standardized Root Mean Squared Residual (SRMR) values under 0.08 are deemed appropriate (Hu and Bentler, 1999), while a root mean squared error of approximation (RMSEA) below 0.08 suggests an acceptable-to-moderate fit (MacCallum et al., 1996). Internal consistency in the final model was assessed using composite reliability and was set at 0.70 (Hair et al., 2014).
Data analytical approach for presenting Napier City results
For useful interpretation of results, a cluster analysis was executed. The process followed aligned with other validation work undertaken to ensure consistency (Ayalon et al., 2024; Barata et al., 2025; Bertani et al., 2025; Dikken et al., 2020; Ivan et al., 2024; Pavlovski et al., 2024; Perek-Białas et al., 2024; Wasserman et al., 2025; Ziganshina et al., 2025). This approach assisted with the interpretation of results, making it easier for policymakers to understand, thereby supporting the implementation of age-friendly initiatives into communities. The cluster analytical process utilized the nine domains of the AFCCQ-NZ to develop age-friendly typologies following the same methodology undertaken by Van Hoof et al. (2024). Socio-economic characteristics were then analysed across and within these clusters.
Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) utilizing Ward’s (1963) approach identified the appropriate number, associations and similarities across clusters. Stability was validated through randomly splitting the sample and repeating the cluster analysis. A k-means cluster analysis supported the interpretation of findings. Demographic features within clusters were also examined, with categories representing 75%–99% deemed ‘highly likely’ and 51%–74% considered ‘likely’. Categories scoring below 50% denoted a lack of significance or were combined. All data analytical functions were undertaken using SPSS version 29.0 (IBM Corp, 2021).
Results
This section begins with a summary of the demographic characteristics of those participants who participated in the study (Table 1). A total number of 354 people aged 65 years and over completed the AFCCQ-NZ. Therefore, the present sample is representative of this community.
Demographics of participants from Napier City, New Zealand (total = 354).
Translation and face and content validity
The check on cultural congruence of the AFCCQ into New Zealand English was undertaken, and three changes were made (Table 2). Firstly, in the ‘Transport’ section, trams were replaced by trains as trains are more common as a form of public transport in New Zealand’s larger cities than trams. Secondly, ‘municipality’ was changed to ‘council’ in the ‘Communication and Information’ section to better reflect the New Zealand context and to provide clarity to participants completing the questionnaire. Thirdly, ‘mobility scooters’ were added an accessibility aid in the ‘Outdoor Spaces and Buildings’ section.
I-CVI face and content validity AFCCQ items for New Zealand.
Not all older adults assessed the AFCCQ items as relevant (I-CVI above 0.78) for the New Zealand context. For example, the domain of ‘Respect and Social Inclusion’ scored low on relevance. However, all academic experts were in agreement and scored these items as highly relevant, resulting in no changes being made to this item.
Psychometric validity and reliability of the AFCCQ-NZ
A model comprising nine dimensions was developed. This model resulted in an excellent fit (CFI = 0.965; TLI = 0.954; SRMR = 0.0380; RMSEA = 0.049), as can be seen in Table 3. All estimated covariance paths between the factors were below the 0.85 cut-off, indicating sufficient discriminant validity and confirming that the items measure distinct yet potentially related factors. The AFCCQ-NZ demonstrated excellent reliability results for all dimensions having a composite reliability greater than 0.7 (see Table 4). Therefore, the AFCCQ-NZ can be considered valid and reliable for use in the New Zealand context.
Fit of data from New Zealand with the original model as described by Dikken et al. (2020).
Reliability per factor of the AFCCQ-NZ.
Results for Napier City
Table 5 presents the mean and standard deviation per domain across the entire sample of Napier City, New Zealand. Overall, the total score indicated moderate-to-good satisfaction with the age-friendly features of the city. The domain of ‘Housing’ scored the highest (highly satisfactory), and the domains ‘Community support and health services’, ‘Transportation’ and ‘Financial situation’ scored the lowest (neutral).
Scores (mean ± SD) for AFCCQ domains for Napier City, New Zealand (n = 354).
The coloured zones represent how dissatisfied or satisfied older people are regarding the city as a whole or a specific domain. Scores in green zones mean that people are neutral to slightly satisfied (+, white) to very satisfied (++++, dark green). Scores in red mean that people are slightly dissatisfied (-, light red) to very dissatisfied (- - - -, dark red) based on the interpretation and presentation method presented by Dikken et al. (2020).
Cluster analysis
To determine the number of clusters within the study sample, a cluster analysis was conducted using the data from the AFCCQ-NZ. The Bonferroni test was utilized to evaluate the significance of differences between clusters. For the four-cluster solution, nearly all p-values were significant between domains and clusters, with exceptions in the housing domain for clusters two and three, and the transportation domain for clusters one and four. In the five-cluster solution, similar domains and clusters showed insignificance, with additional non-significant results in the financial situation domain between clusters one and four.
After a detailed examination of the data, we opted for the five-cluster solution over the four- and three-cluster solutions. While the four-cluster solution had only one less significant distinction, it did not provide the same level of granularity and detailed insights offered by the five-cluster solution. The three-cluster solution resulted in a significant loss of information, which would have oversimplified the data and masked important variations within the sample. On the other hand, the six-cluster solution resulted in too many domains with non-significant Bonferroni test scores, making it less effective in providing clear and actionable insights. The cluster analysis led to the identification of five clusters and their scores on the AFCCQ-NZ total and the various subdomains, as presented in Table 6.
Cluster scores on normalized AFCCQ domains for Napier City, New Zealand.
The coloured zones represent how dissatisfied or satisfied older people are regarding the city as a whole or a specific domain. Scores in green zones mean that people are neutral to slightly satisfied (+, white) to very satisfied (+ + + +, dark green). Scores in red mean that people are slightly dissatisfied (-, light red) to very dissatisfied (- - - -, dark red) based on the interpretation and presentation method presented by Dikken et al. (2020).
The parallel coordinates plot in Figure 1 offers a visual analysis of the cluster scores presented in Table 6 across the domains of the AFCCQ-NZ for Napier City, New Zealand. Overall, the trends show that domain scores are highly correlated within each cluster, indicating that clusters with low scores in one domain tend to have low scores in others, and vice versa. Cluster 1, labelled ‘Disenchanted’ (n = 22), exhibits the most negative scores across all domains, with most values ranging between −2.5 and −5.0. This cluster has the lowest score on ‘Financial situation’, as well as consistently scoring low on all domains, highlighting dissatisfaction, especially in the categories of ‘Transportation’, ‘Outdoor spaces and buildings’, ‘Social participation’ and ‘Community support and health services’. An interesting exception is the ‘Housing’ domain, where the scores, although the lowest among all clusters, are moderately positive, indicating a relatively better perception of housing accessibility. Cluster 2, labelled ‘Struggling’ (n = 83), is characterized by negative scores in five of the nine domains, with ‘Transportation’ standing out as a significant area of concern. This is despite 91.8% of all respondents identifying that they drive a car. The other domains hover around the zero line, suggesting a neutral perception and indicating room for improvement across all areas.
Parallel coordinates plot of cluster scores on AFCCQ subdomains for Napier City, New Zealand.
As we move to clusters with higher AFCCQ-NZ scores, the scores improve across all domains. Cluster 3, labelled ‘Managing’ (n=131), shows generally neutral to slightly positive scores, with notable strengths in ‘Housing’. Cluster 4, labelled ‘Happy and Healthy’ (n=86), presents a positive profile, excelling in ‘Housing’, ‘Respect and social inclusion’ and ‘Communication and information’. This cluster indicates a satisfied group with good inclusivity experiences, although ‘Transportation’ continues to show a need for enhancement. Finally, cluster 5, labelled ‘Life’s Good’ (n = 32), consistently achieves the highest scores, with only the domains of ‘Community support and health services’, ‘Transportation’ and ‘Financial situation’ scoring below the 7.5 mark.
Finally, Table 7 presents the socio-demographic characteristics belonging to each cluster, revealing distinct trends and unique characteristics for each group. Cluster 1 (n = 22) stands out as being the oldest demographic, predominantly female (59.1%), aged 75 and above. This cluster has a high proportion of individuals with chronic diseases (36.4% have two or more) and a significant need for assistance with daily tasks (18.2%). They mostly own or have family trust housing (90.9%), with over half living alone (54.5%).
The five age-friendly typologies in Napier based on socio-demographic data.
Cluster 2 (n = 83) features a balanced age distribution. This cluster is also predominantly female (68.7%) and identifying as New Zealand European (83.1%), with some Māori (13.3%). Educational levels are diverse, with a number having secondary- (27.7%) and tertiary-level education (39.8%). Most respondents are not working (80.7%) and live alone (41.0%).
Cluster 3 (n = 131) is the largest of the clusters and features a younger demographic, predominantly female (69.5%), aged between 65 and 69 years. This cluster has the highest proportion of completed tertiary qualifications (38.9%) and postgraduate degrees (19.1%). Health issues are common in this group, with 11.5% needing some form of assistance. They mostly own their homes (74.8%), with nearly half of the cohort living alone (47.3%).
Cluster 4 (n = 86) presents a balanced age distribution, is predominantly female (65.1%) and is mainly New Zealand European (91.9%), with some Māori (7.0%). It has high educational attainment, with many having tertiary (40.7%) and secondary education (38.4%). This cluster is notable for lower chronic disease prevalence and fewer mobility aid users (7.0%). Most of these respondents own their homes (84.9%), with 40.7% living alone.
Finally, cluster 5 (n = 32) is the smallest, with a younger age demographic, predominantly female (68.8%) and a significant number of this group aged between 75–79 (28.1%) and 80–84 (9.4%) years. This cluster is highly educated, with many having tertiary (46.9%) and postgraduate qualifications (18.8%). Most identify as New Zealand European (87.5%), with some from other ethnic backgrounds. This group has fewer health issues, with only 6.3% needing assistance. They have the highest levels of car ownership (96.9%) and primarily own their homes (78.1%), with a smaller number living alone (34.4%).
Discussion
The results of the New Zealand trial in Napier City demonstrate that the AFCCQ-NZ is a valid and reliable tool for use in evaluating the age-friendliness of all cities and communities across the country. The validation of the AFCCQ-NZ tool allows councils and communities to evaluate and measure the age-friendliness of rural and urban neighbourhoods to provide baseline and ongoing assessment data. These data can then be utilized by local government for policy and planning purposes, as well as discussions about the allocation of funding to priority areas (Buitendijk et al., 2025). Findings can also be aggregated and utilized to make comparisons locally, regionally, nationally, as well as globally across similar geographical and socio-cultural areas.
The success of any age-friendly initiatives requires a bottom-up approach, through the genuine and authentic inclusion of older person’s views. These views should identify the requisite community characteristics needed to support and promote wellbeing in older people (Neville et al., 2021). This is evident in the findings produced from this validation process, as these are a representation of the opinions and perspectives of older adults themselves. A recent umbrella review of age-friendly planning, implementation and sustainability identified that the success of age-friendly initiatives is contingent upon older adults’ day-to-day experiences being considered and included by councils and policy makers (Neville et al., 2025b).
Utilising the nine domains that constitute age-friendliness as a conceptual guide, findings from this survey provided the first comprehensive understanding about what older people living in Napier think about the liveability of their city. The identification of five clusters provided evidence-based data to the local council to guide future targeted and strategic direction for the development of age-friendly initiatives, including in discussions with other key agencies. Following the data analytical process and the development of cluster profiles, descriptive labels were assigned to each group based on the characteristics reported in each cluster group. As identified in Table 6, these descriptive labels are as follows: Cluster 1 ‘Disenchanted’, Cluster 2 ‘Struggling’, Cluster 3 ‘Managing’, Cluster 4 ‘Happy and Healthy’ and Cluster 5 ‘Life’s Good’. The naming of the clusters in the current project allowed comparisons to be made with other AFCCQ validation projects. For example, there are definite similarities in some areas aligning with findings from Australia, a cultural-geographically close Commonwealth neighbour of New Zealand (Wasserman et al., 2025).
While the overall domain scores increased across each cluster, of note is the domain of ‘Community Support and Health Services’, which received the lowest scores when compared to the others. This indicates that while perceptions improved in many of the age-friendly areas, community support and health services did not proportionally keep pace. This finding is not surprising, as recent policy changes have resulted in reductions to health and social service provision in Napier, a relatively isolated provincial city. This finding is supported by previous New Zealand age-friendly research in rural areas, identifying that in communities where there are high numbers of older adults, as is the case in Napier, accessibility to community and health services is identified as a priority for being able to age well (Neville et al., 2019).
‘Transportation’ was the next lowest scored domain, despite having high levels of car ownership which was evident across the five clusters. Smaller and more isolated areas, such as provincial cities and rural communities, often lack reliable, frequent and/or accessible public transport options (Stjernborg and Lopez Svensson, 2024). This finding is not surprising, given that recent changes to community support and health service provision have resulted in an increased reliance on cars and the ability to drive to access these services which are now no longer provided within the city. Consequently, in this community these two lowest scoring domains are in fact linked. Targeted investment and consideration in improving transportation infrastructure and enhancing community support and health services are recommended for Napier City to address these persistent concerns and enhance its overall age-friendliness.
Housing scored the highest across each of the five cluster groups in the Napier study. However, the questions asked in the questionnaire related to whether the houses that participants lived in were accessible to themselves, as well as to visitors. There were no questions related to housing affordability; similarly, there were no questions asked about the availability of suitable housing. This finding aligns with the Australian validation project, where older people also indicated satisfaction with housing accessibility (Wasserman et al., 2025).
A key output from this important validation project was the creation of a National AFCCQ-NZ Guideline (Piercy et al., 2025). This resource was developed by the Office for Seniors, Ministry of Social Development, who have made it available for councils and communities across Aotearoa New Zealand to utilize to assess age-friendliness as baseline data or to track progress towards being recognized as age friendly. Based on the WHO age-friendly domains, with the addition of an extra domain related to finances, it provides a step-by-step guide on all aspects of the process. This includes how to plan the age-friendly assessment process for success, mechanisms that support data collection and analysis, as well as other useful tips such as how to market and promote the survey to older citizens. As of October 2025, at least five councils in Aotearoa New Zealand have utilized this guide to collect data to ensure their communities are inclusive of older people and support wellbeing.
One strength of this validation project is that it contributes not only locally and nationally but also globally to an understanding of what older people need from their communities to age well and within neighbourhoods that foster social and physical participation. The inclusion of questions about an individual’s financial situation as a ninth domain is another strength of this project. A body of evidence exists identifying that for older adults, financial security is a predictor for experiencing age-friendliness in their communities (Van Hoof et al., 2025). As such, local government and other government agencies should consider the financial wellbeing of older citizens when planning and implementing age-friendly services.
The majority of participants in the present study identified as New Zealand European. It is important that further research be undertaken with specific cultural and ethnic groups, for example the Māori – the indigenous people of New Zealand – as well as others, including the five identified cluster groups. The utilization of qualitative methodologies, as a series of follow-up studies, will provide a nuanced and comprehensive understanding of what matters to older people in relation to age-friendly cities and communities.
Conclusion
This study validated the AFCCQ-NZ in Napier City for assessing age-friendliness across the country. Older adults were asked to assess the age-friendliness of their city, identifying existing strengths and areas requiring improvement. Findings were grouped into five clusters, named ‘Disenchanted’, ‘Struggling’, ‘Managing’, ‘Happy and Healthy’ and ‘Life’s Good’. Housing rated highly across each of the clusters, while transportation and community support and health services rated the lowest. These findings provided the local council with the requisite evidence-based information to support and advocate for future age-friendly policy development and planning. The clusters identified the importance of incorporating the perspectives of a diverse group of older adults in the planning and implementation of age-friendly initiatives. The AFCCQ-NZ supports the New Zealand government’s goal of being recognized as age friendly.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge Napier Council for their support of this study. We also extend our sincere thanks to all participants who generously shared their time, experiences and perspectives, without which this research would not have been possible.
Ethical considerations
The study was approved by the Wintec Human Ethics Research Group (approval reference: WTLR12180424, 3 May 2024).
Informed consent statement
Respondents provided written consent to participate.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.