ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1646195
This article is part of the Research TopicEnvironmental Conditions and Healthy AgingView all 4 articles
The Impact of Age-Friendly Communities on the Quality of Life of Older Adults based on Structural Equation Modeling
Provisionally accepted
- Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China
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With the aging of China ' s population deepening, the development of age-friendly communities (AFCs) is playing an important role in alleviating the pressure of eldercare and enhancing the quality of life (QoL) of older adults. This paper aims to investigate the complicated impact of AFCs on the QoL of older adults through a questionnaire survey. A questionnaire survey was designed to explore the intricate relationships between components of AFCs and QoL factors from older adults' perspective. A total of 1,396 older adults completed the survey. Factor analysis was used to identify AFC components and QoL factors, and the relationships between AFC components and QoL factors were predicted using structural equation modeling (SEM). Four AFC components and three QoL factors for older adults were identified. The SEM results revealed that (1) physical health was mainly positively influenced by green spaces and negatively affected by public healthcare services; (2) apart from public transportation, most AFC components were indicative of psychological health; and (3) social networks were primarily influenced by green spaces and community support. To provide a better living environment for older adults, it is suggested that communities renovate existing structures to expand green spaces, add accessible facilities, and increase greenery. Communities should also enhance social environments by improving healthcare services, ensuring accessible medical care, and organizing cultural and recreational activities to promote older adults' social participation and improve their QoL.
Keywords: Age-friendly community, older adults, Quality of Life, Structural Equation Modeling, healthcare
Received: 13 Jun 2025; Accepted: 13 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tang, Xu and Yu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jie Xu, xujie_0130@163.com
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