Progress, Partnerships, and Priorities: Age Friendly Olmsted County Progress Report 2023-2025 Action Plan
Communities across the United States are experiencing significant demographic change as residents live longer and the proportion of older adults continues to grow. These changes affect housing markets,
transportation systems, health care delivery, workforce participation, caregiving responsibilities, and community life.
Age Friendly Olmsted County was established to help the community consider how these changes affect local conditions and to encourage collaboration among organizations and residents interested in supporting healthy aging. The initiative is affiliated with the AARP Network of Age Friendly States and Communities and the World Health Organization Global Network for Age Friendly Cities and Communities, both of which promote community environments that enable residents to age safely, actively, and with dignity.
The changes described in this report can also be understood as part of a broader longevity transition. Today, people routinely live decades longer than previous generations. This shift affects housing, transportation systems, workforce participation, caregiving, health care, and community design. Communities are learning how to adapt to this reality. Age friendly work provides a framework for that learning process and informs a systems level approach to supporting aging in community throughout the lifespan.
This report reviews the first action cycle of Age Friendly Olmsted County and describes how the initiative has engaged local partners, community members, and organizations in discussions about aging related issues affecting the county. It summarizes the work undertaken between 2023 and 2025, reflects lessons from those activities, and outlines a process for updating the community assessment and developing the next action plan.
