ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the burgeoning literature on age-friendly programmes globally, focusing on how the idea developed, and debates whether it is a nebulous concept. The chapter also examines what is involved in becoming an Age-Friendly Community and provides a selective review of the existing research literature to highlight some of the issues that we will revisit in Chapters 3 and 4 in relation to the primary research data. This involves a thematic analysis of the key studies that are both relevant to our study and to the policy context of age-friendly development. The chapter also contains overviews of three age-friendly programmes in Ireland, Canada and Manchester, which are frequently cited as exemplars in the literature.
