Frequently Asked Questions

Age-Friendly Sarasota is a countywide effort in Florida to promote active, engaged, and healthy living for people of all ages. By learning and sharing about Sarasota County's age-friendly features and the aspirations of its residents, this initiative is amplifying and bringing enhancements to the community that align with factors identified by the World Health Organization that influence the ability to live well at any age. Age-Friendly Sarasota is part of the WHO Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities, an effort of more than 541 member cities and communities in 37 countries benefiting more than 179 million people worldwide, and was the first community in Florida to be recognized as an age-friendly community by WHO and AARP, a national affiliate of the global effort.

The community movement is well underway, and AFS has recently completed a two-year assessment of Sarasota County's age-friendly assets (May 2015 – May 2017).

The assessment explored aspirations of Sarasota County's older residents (age 65 and older) and Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) — as they relate to the World Health Organization's 8 domains of livability: Civic participation and Employment, Communication and Information, Community Support and Health Services, Housing, Outdoor Spaces and Buildings, Respect and Social Inclusion, Social Participation, and Transportation.

This research was then combined with the data collection of existing community assets by domain to create a roadmap — the 2017–2020 Action Plan — for next steps. 

The Implementation Phase has recently started  (June 1, 2017 – May 31, 2020). Efforts will now focus on community sector contributions to the goals, objectives, and strategies identified in the Action Plan.

Please visit the “Connect & Learn” tab in the top menu of this page for more information about a variety of ways to participate in this initiative, including joining AFS’ conversation on Facebook and Twitter, requesting a speaker, and also signing up for the AFS newsletter. 

You can also get involved in the Age-Friendly movement by reviewing the Age-Friendly Sarasota Action Plan and providing your feedback on that webpage. Be sure to share with us how you or your Sarasota County organization or business is making our community more age-friendly.