Utilizing age-friendly cities and communities to support access to vaccination, vision, hearing and oral healthcare

Population aging is a global phenomenon, resulting in increasing numbers of older people. As populations age, the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases and sensory loss also increases. These challenges create an imperative to maintain health across the life course, to reap the benefits of longer lives and reduce the burden on health and social systems. Functional ability is shaped by the individual and the environment in which people live. The World Health Organization's Age-friendly Cities Framework defines an age-friendly city as one that adapts its structures and services to be accessible to and inclusive of older people with diverse needs and capacities and is guided by eight domains, including community support and health services. Despite the linkage between age-friendly environments and health, the Age-Friendly Cities Framework can be better harnessed to support promoting access to health services which contribute to function but are not always central to health planning: immunization, and vision, hearing and oral care. Examination of 59 strategy and action plans submitted by members of the Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities (GNAFCC) indicates that only 18 out of 59 cities and communities included health actions to support vaccination, hearing, vision and oral health in their age-friendly plans. This article explores the importance of these interventions to healthy aging, the extent to which age-friendly cities and communities support access to these health services within their plans and how age-friendly planning may be utilized as a tool to enhance comprehensive access to immunization, vision, hearing and oral care.