Certification promotes being ‘age friendly’ as good business

Some health care facilities can feel cold and sterile, a setting that could cause discomfort or even discourage patients from seeking care.

In contrast, visitors to Cayuga Health's new outpatient clinics at the Ithaca Mall - recognized recently by a program Cornell students helped develop - are met with earthy colors and nature scenes and a blend of natural and soft artificial light. The sound-absorbing carpet has subtle patterns that help guide guests, and chairs accommodate different mobility levels.

"We need to make the space as warm and welcoming as possible to help set that tone for their visit," said Adam Long, assistant vice president of operations and service lines for Cayuga Health.

That proactive approach helped the facility become one of the first certified by Tompkins County as an "age friendly business." Assisted by Cornell faculty and students, the county's Office for the Aging recently launched the new certificationto help businesses of all kinds identify ways to better welcome patrons across the age spectrum, and to recognize their efforts to do so.

According to the office, the term "age friendly" refers to practices that are "intentional in being inclusive of participants across their lifespan." Those could relate to a business's physical space, like having an accessible entrance or bathroom, but also things like signage, lighting, noise levels, web presence and staff training and recruitment.

As the U.S. population ages - the number of people 65 and older is projected to exceed the number 18 and younger by the mid-2030s - older adults' needs are a primary consideration. But experts say improving accessibility for them typically also helps others. A chair in a store, for example, might benefit an older person needing support or a parent with an infant.

"There's quite a bit of overlap between accessible needs for older adults and families with young kids," said Janet Loebach, the Evalyn Edwards Milman Assistant Professor in Child Development in the College of Human Ecology's Department of Human Centered Design. "We hope to raise awareness among business owners that some of their customers may have different needs, and doing what they can to minimize barriers can improve the experience and maybe even bring in more customers."

The program emerged from several years of research by students in Loebach's Designing Age Friendly Environments class, and from Tompkins County's selection in 2019 to develop an Age Friendly Center for Excellence, through a grant awarded by the Health Foundation of Western and Central New York, in partnership with the New York State Office for the Aging. Loebach serves on the center's steering committee along with Mildred Warner, M.S. '85, Ph.D. '97, professor of global development in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and of city and regional planning in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning.

Students in Loebach's community-engaged classes initiated a pilot program with a group of downtown businesses, collaborating with partners including the Downtown Ithaca Alliance and Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce. With its formal launch in October, the program now provides checklists to help any business self-audit its age-friendliness and identify opportunities for improvement. The audit documents may be submitted to the Office for the Aging for review and periodic renewal.

While many businesses occupying older buildings won't have the freedom Cayuga Health enjoyed while retrofitting a big-box mall space that once housed a Bon-Ton, Loebach said many of the audit items are minor and inexpensive to implement - like making a chair available, or menus that are easier to read.

"It can be a fairly quick process," Loebach said of the self-audit, "and chances are you're already doing a lot of age-friendly things."

In addition to Cayuga Health at the mall, the first certified cohort of age-friendly businesses includes Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services; Ithaca Reuse; Reuse Megacenter Triphammer; Sciencenter; SewGreen Ithaca; and State of the Art Gallery. Each will receive a certificate, door and window stickers, and digital icons designed by students, and will be listed on the county's online map.

Lisa Monroe, director of the Office for the Aging, credited the faculty and students with delivering "boots on the ground" research and program components that the office did not have had the capacity to produce on its own, but can now oversee.

"They researched age-friendly business communities all over the country and the world, for that matter," Monroe said. "Packaging it all in a way that we could keep it going was a big ask, and they did that."

Contributing students said they gained valuable experience learning not only from classroom assignments but also from their interaction with community and business partners.

"Things that we learned from the different talks or literature, we also get to see them in action," said Jiayi Guo '26, a design and environmental analysis major. "We're not just working in a silo and designing a system, but looking at how do we actually make it work for people, so that it can evolve even after we graduate."

"I really enjoyed the opportunity to work with so many different community partners for this project," said Della Blossom Alderson, a master's student in urban and regional planning. "Businesses want to support our community members, so it's an exciting opportunity for them to be recognized for the incredible work they're already doing."

Cayuga Health's Long said he hopes the age-friendly designation draws attention to the many carefully considered design details that visitors might not immediately notice in the outpatient clinics, all aimed at fostering a calming and inviting environment.

"We want patients to understand that they can come here and not have challenges, and that care shouldn't be a barrier," Long said. "You shouldn't have to feel like you can't go somewhere to receive a service you truly need."