建设老年友好社区是中国面对人口老龄化挑战做出的重大决策。然而, 当前仍未出现针对老年友好社区建成效果的系统性评价研究。该文利用北京市全国示范性老年友好社区居民调查数据, 考察老年友好社区建设对老年人生活满意度的影响。研究结果表明：老年友好社区建设提升了老年人的生活满意度与心理健康水平, 且心理健康水平在老年友好社区建设与老年人生活满意度间起中介作用; 老年友好社区的7项评价标准均在不同程度上提升了老年人的生活满意度, 而仅社区氛围、社区服务、智慧养老、社会参与4项评价标准提升了老年人的心理健康水平; 相比之下, 老年友好社区建设对低龄、自理能力较强、文化水平较高、收入较低的老年人的生活满意度与心理健康水平的提升作用更强。

Objective: Confined to a particular stage of social development, most existing communities in China have been designed with young and middle-aged people as the targets, neglecting the housing needs of the elderly. In addition, there is a considerable lack of elderly facilities and support services in community living areas. Therefore, expediting the development of age-friendly communities is a crucial initiative to improve the living environment of elderly residents and address the effects of aging. The development of age-friendly communities is an urgent topic that demands immediate attention. Unfortunately, there is still no systematic evaluation study on the effect of establishing age-friendly communities. Methods: Using data from a survey of residents of Beijing's first batch of national model age-friendly communities, we examined the effect of age-friendly community establishment on the life satisfaction levels of the elderly as well as the mediating role of their mental health. We also tested the robustness of the results based on a propensity score matching model. In addition, subjective and objective indicators of the seven functions of an age-friendly community were used to test the effectiveness of the age-friendly community functions. Finally, we employed grouped regression to test the heterogeneity of age-friendly community well-being among different elderly groups. Results: The results demonstrate the following: (1) The establishment of age-friendly communities enhances the life satisfaction and mental health of the elderly, and their mental health mediates the relationship between the establishment of age-friendly communities and their life satisfaction. (2) The seven functions of age-friendly communities affect the life satisfaction of the elderly to varying degrees, and only four functions—community atmosphere, community service, smart elderly care, and social participation—improve the mental health of the elderly. (3) The establishment of age-friendly communities more strongly affects the life satisfaction and mental health of older people who are younger, more capable of self-care, more educated, and lower income group. Conclusions: The abovementioned results show that overall, China's current age-friendly communities have achieved some success; however, some aspects still require attention during the follow-up promotion of age-friendly communities. First, when promoting the establishment of age-friendly communities, we should not only focus on improving the physical environment of the community but also consider various aspects of the social environment to help alleviate the mental health problems of the elderly. Concurrently, we should give more attention to the needs of vulnerable groups, such as the elderly with low education levels, limited self-care ability, and low incomes. We should implement policies such as home care, group assistance, and simplified and inexpensive procedures so that the benefits of age-friendly community establishments can be enjoyed by as many people as possible.