Journal of Aging Research While social participation and connectedness are impor- tant in an elder-friendly community, there is a need for reciprocity between older adults and their community. For example, the AdvantAge Initiative [17] promotes the importance of civic engagement, including meaningful con- nections, volunteer and paid opportunities, and the prior- itization of aging issues. The WHO acknowledges that an age-friendly community provides the option for older adults to continue to contribute to their community through civic engagement with both paid and volunteer opportunities and to have the ability to be active in the political process. The beneﬁts of such reciprocity are many, such as an increased sense of purpose and satisfaction for older adults as they engage with the community, while younger community members may beneﬁt from the knowledge and experience older adults bring to the community. As an example, intergenerational programs recognize the knowledge and skills possessed by older adults that can be shared with youth, while providing opportunities for civic engagement for the older person [1]. The key here is mutual beneﬁt while recognizing that each segment beneﬁts diﬀerentially. Much of the research on elder-friendly communities has highlighted the multidimensional nature of community life and has not focused primary attention on social con- nectedness despite the importance of interdependence and engagement as primary qualities of aging in community [21]. For example, the AdvantAge Initiative identiﬁes social and civic engagement but used quantitative measures to evaluate communities in three preordained realms [17]. Additionally, age-friendly community projects often obtain views from current elders. If an age-friendly community is a positive place to “grow” old, then the views of younger citizens (baby boomers, for example) need to be taken into account. Alley and colleagues [15] suggest that in an age-prepared community, processes of planning and advocacy are utilized to foster aging in place, which may be a prospective view of what is needed in planning for future community needs. This process must take into account the views and needs of the citizens who are not yet deﬁned as older adults, but who will bring their own needs and views to the community. The purpose of this paper is to further elucidate the importance of social relationships and social connectedness in developing an elder-friendly community. The process used in the project described here was inclusive of younger adults (age 40–65) as well as older adults (65+) in order to help understand how they envision a community that could support their own aging. Alley et al. [15] describe the importance of an “age-prepared” community [15, page 8] as one which has assessed its current services and is planning for the needs of future populations. Second, the qualitative methodology used in this study allowed for a more naturalistic and personal narrative. Padgett [22] acknowledges the importance of “meaning making” in the narrative process that includes storytelling, conversation, and discourse of naturally occurring speech. This study, therefore, was informed by the perspective of narrative analysis and the use of the spoken and written word in narrating the meaning of social connectedness as we age. 3 4. Background In April of 2002, surveys related to assessing the elder friendliness of communities were completed by 5.100 individuals, 65 and over, throughout 10 cities across the United States [23]. In one participating community in Western Washington, a total of 514 surveys were completed. Findings suggested that older adults in that community were satisﬁed with their neighborhoods and participated in reli- gious or cultural activities, and the majority of respondents were engaged in health screening [24]. The vast majority of these respondents had participated in some type of social activity in the past week and slightly fewer than one in three people volunteered [23]. The survey results were promising and positive, yet are now dated and do not reﬂect the opin- ions of members of the aging baby boom generation. Second, the original survey did not focus speciﬁcally on the issue of social connectedness but limited the focus to volunteering and participation in cultural and religious activities. Recognizing the need to better reﬁne and focus attention on the importance of social connectedness as part of elder- friendly communities, a city committee responsible for the continuation of the elder-friendly community agenda spon- sored a community forum in October of 2009. A community forum using the World Cafe´ format [25] was conducted in order to engage community members, 40 years and older, in conversation about the importance of social connectedness in elder-friendly communities. Previous research in this area has approached the topic of social connectedness through an a priori deﬁnition of social engagement, primarily utiliz- ing quantitative methods for measurement and evaluation [23]. This forum, however, sought to understand social connectedness from those approaching retirement using a more naturalistic method. A second purpose of this forum was to obtain data on what would keep aging boomers in their community as they age. The results of the forum and its applicability to elder-friendly communities and aging in place research are being presented here. 4.1. World Caf´e as a Research Strategy. The World Cafe´ is a concept that was born out of Appreciative Inquiry [26], which is a form of research that emphasizes the positive aspects of an experience, particularly how that experience can foster creativity among people [26]. The World Cafe´ format involves exchanging ideas and sharing diﬀerent points of view in a safe, intimate setting with the purpose of coalescing wisdom and experience into learning. A foundational component of the World Cafe´ concept is conversations, purposeful conversations that have a reason for taking place, “conversations that matter” [25, page 4]. They may be initiated to solve a community problem or to envision a preferred future, in this case an elder-friendly community, with a focus on social connectedness. The World Cafe´ format places an emphasis on moving from simply talking to taking action. This movement takes place as participants are able to understand the connection between talking and acting, or conversation as action [25]. It was in this context of “sharing collective discoveries” [25, page 138] that the community forum took place. This study provided