Aging Equity and Diversity as Part of Age-Friendly Community Practice in the United States

Despite calls for promoting equity and recognizing diversity within age-friendly community (AFC) efforts, there has been little research on how leaders attend to such considerations in practice. We iteratively coded data from qualitative interviews with leaders of eight AFC initiatives in New Jersey (United States [U.S.]) conducted across multiple years. Five themes were identified regarding areas in which considerations of aging equity and diversity emerged: communications to the public; outreach and advocacy; engagement structures; events and programming; and direct services. We discuss implications for cross-disciplinary research, policy, and practice to advance AFC initiatives in the U.S. and other similar contexts.