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 450 cities and communities worldwide benefiting more than 151 million people, 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.

AARP Florida, Florida Department of Elder Affairs, Florida Policy Exchange Center on Aging at the University of South Florida, Sarasota County Government, The Patterson Foundation, and University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee are working in collaboration to engage the community as it creates pathways toward a more livable future for all Sarasota County residents.

Sarasota County has one of the nation's highest populations of older adults. Currently, older adults — those age 65 and older — represent one-third of Sarasota County residents, and more than half of Sarasota County's population is over age 50. Through learning and sharing the aspirations of these residents, Age-Friendly Sarasota facilitates a process for people to engage and plan for Sarasota County's future. Every generation is living longer, and Sarasota County will be ready to provide its residents with the opportunity to thrive in a livable community.

Age-Friendly Sarasota promotes healthy and active living for generations of residents across several interconnected domains, such as transportation and social participation. These efforts aspire to support the work of a broad range of entities to develop a more livable community including those organizations serving older residents.

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. Additionally, an Age-Friendly Festival is scheduled to take place on October 28, 2017.

Send general Age-Friendly Sarasota inquiries to info@agefriendlysarasota.org or call 941-444-0243. For additional contact information, visit our Contact Us page.