'They Don't Want to Label It': Insights from Communities Not Enrolled in the Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities.

More than 800 municipalities and 11 states and territories in the United States have joined the Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities (NAFSC); however, to our knowledge, no studies have examined the many communities that have not joined. The present study explored the factors that inhibit communities from joining the NAFSC. Data were drawn from semi-structured interviews conducted with 12 community leaders in Massachusetts and Maine.

Challenges and Visions for the Future Among Paratransit Providers.

Background And Objectives: The present study examined paratransit managers' perceptions of a changing transportation market and the resources or supports they might need to adapt to evolving market expectations. Paratransit comprises specialized origin-to-destination transportation, often targeting a transportation-disadvantaged population such as people with disabilities or older adults. Paratransit is often provided by a transit agency, a nongovernmental contractor to the transit agency, or other federally-funded entity.

Spillover Benefits and Achieving Sustainability of Age-Friendly Communities.

As the age-friendly movement grows in its second decade, urgent questions of initiative sustainability have taken hold in the academic literature and among advocates implementing age-friendly changes. The creation of authentically age-inclusive environments requires not just the continuation of the initiative, but that its principles become embedded in formal and informal organizational processes, across sectors and beyond familiar networks focused on older populations. This embedding ensures the initiative's values take root permanently in a community's institutional culture.