Age-Friendly Portland: A University-City-Community Partnership

This article addresses the question of how creating an age-friendly city has come to be an important policy and planning issue in Portland, Oregon. In 2006, researchers from Portland State University's Institute on Aging examined the meanings of age friendliness among a broad range of participants in Portland, Oregon. The research was conducted in conjunction with the World Health Organization's (WHO) Age-Friendly Cities project and followed the completion of two earlier non–WHO-related projects. The city of Portland, through the Institute on Aging, was one of nine original members to apply for and be accepted into the WHO Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities. An Age-Friendly Portland Advisory Council was formed to guide the development of an action plan, monitor progress over time, and suggest additional research. To understand how Portland's age-friendly policy effort has developed over time, we use Kingdon's (1984) agenda-setting framework to explain how the policy problem was formulated, how solutions were developed, and the influence of local politics. The policy actors, including individuals and organizations working within and outside of government, are described. The Portland experience provides a case study that other cities, especially those with a strong commitment to community-engaged urban planning, may find useful as they develop age-friendly initiatives.     

新型农村社会养老保险参与实证研究:一个信任分析视角

本文运用2010年对陕西、山东2省3个区县1595个农民的调查数据,首次实证检验新型农村社会养老保险参与的信任解释。因子分析发现,农民的信任可以分为村域信任和特殊信任两种类型。Logistic回归分析发现,村域信任对农民参保有正效应,村域信任水平越高,农民越可能缴费参保。而特殊信任对农民参保没有显著性影响。村域信任有助于农民通过网络传播和政府宣传来了解新农保信息,从而降低了信息搜寻成本;村域信任还增进了农民对新农保制度的期望值进而激励其参保。本文弥补了学界对农村社会养老保险参与非经济因素研究的不足,为新农保参与提供了一个理论解释。     

未来20年中国农村劳动力非农化转移的潜力和趋势分析

农村劳动力非农化是城市化过程中的必然现象,学术界对此研究很多,然而由于对农村非农化劳动力的概念以及基本数据等方面存在不统一等问题,因此一些基本研究存在较大的争议,而关于未来农村劳动力非农化转移的潜力则缺乏专门的系统定量研究。本文通过未来农村劳动力人口的变动预测、农业劳动力需求预测以及劳动力非农化转移的趋势分析及综合比较,测算了中国未来20年内农村劳动力转移的潜力,研究发现,未来中国农村每年农业剩余的劳动力规模将逐年减少,到2030年农村剩余总的劳动力将在1亿～2.5亿之间。而近期内农村劳动力非农化转移存量还有一定的增长空间,但因为其在今后10年内将超过总的农业剩余劳动力潜力,从而增长将会趋于停止,同时农村剩余的可供转移的劳动力也将在5～10年内趋于零。     

中国的人口老龄化经济压力及其调控

运用作者提出的AECI指数法并借助人口模拟,对1980～2050年中国人口老龄化经济压力的强度、趋势和调控进行系统的定量分析和国际比较,发现:本世纪上半叶中国将面临巨大的人口老龄化经济压力,按中方案预测,2020年代中至2030年代末将是压力增大最快时期,压力高峰将出现在2040年前后,高峰时的压力将可能达到2010年压力的4倍;巨大的人口老龄化经济压力将有可能显著地削弱中国崛起的后劲;缓解未来人口老龄化经济压力必须以经济手段为主、人口手段为辅;在坚持计划生育基本国策的前提下中等幅度逐步放宽现行生育政策,既可有效地缓解未来人口老龄化经济压力,又可同时将人口规模压力控制在可承受范围内,这是调控中国人口老龄化经济压力的合理路径。     

老年人生活满意度年龄差异研究

用2002、2005、2008年中国高龄老人健康长寿调查数据,考察了年龄对老年人生活满意度的影响。研究发现,年龄因素影响老年人的生活满意度自评。年岁的上升对老年人的生活满意度既有积极影响也有消极影响。对于老年人来说,年龄对生活满意度的正向作用超过了负向作用,因此,老人的年龄越大,生活满意度评价越积极。进一步考察了年龄积极作用三个可能的来源,包括年龄成熟效应、同期群正效应、存活效应,发现年龄的积极作用主要是由年龄的成熟效应引致的。     

The Development and Validation of the FACES-IV-SF

The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale IV (FACES-IV) was developed to capture the balanced and unbalanced levels of cohesion and flexibility in families. Although this measure has been shown to be valid and reliable, its length at 62 items limits utility and uptake in clinical and research settings. This paper details the development of a shorter form of the FACES-IV (the FACES-IV Short Form) using two studies. In the first study, three item-level analyses were used to identify 24 items that provided the best measurement of each of the scales of the FACES-IV. In the second study, the reliability, and convergent and divergent validity of the short form was tested. Results suggest that the FACES-IV-SF is a valid and reliable measure that adheres to the theory underlying the original FACES-IV but may be better utilized in clinical and research settings due to its brevity.     

Local and Regional Governments and Age-Friendly Communities: A Case Study of the San Francisco Bay Area

The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which cities, county departments of adult and aging services, county transportation authorities, and public transit agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area have in place age-friendly policies, programs, and infrastructure in the areas of community design, housing, transportation, health care and supportive services, and opportunities for community engagement. The most common age-friendly features include those that target alternative forms of mobility (for example, incentives for mixed-use neighborhoods and changes to improve the accessibility of public transit), while the least common policies and programs are those that aim to help older adults continue driving, such as driver education programs, driver assessment programs, and slow-moving vehicle ordinances. The article concludes with policy and research implications of these findings.     

Building an Integrated Research/Policy Planning Age-Friendly Agenda

This article describes an innovative model for integrating research into a policy and planning agenda aimed to help neighborhoods become more supportive of older adults. Philadelphia Corporation for Aging (PCA) established Age-Friendly Philadelphia (AFP) to catalyze efforts to improve the physical and social environments for seniors. The Research Program at PCA became an important part of this effort by providing multiple types of supports to PCA staff and other stakeholders. Most notably, the research program worked with planners to adopt the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Aging Initiative model for Philadelphia. That model focuses on (1) staying active, connected, and engaged; (2) development and housing; (3) transportation and mobility; and (4) staying healthy. Examples of practice efforts actualized using this research are also presented. By developing a new approach to the way research can support practice initiatives, AFP has been able to increase its effectiveness, and researchers have found better ways to work collaboratively with professionals in policy, planning, and practice. The PCA model should be considered as a framework for similar efforts aimed at creating age-friendly communities.