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Participation in community activities through Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) Supportive Service Programs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 August 2016

EMILY A. GREENFIELD  and
REBECCA L. MAULDIN
EMILY A. GREENFIELD*
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, USA.
REBECCA L. MAULDIN
Affiliation:
Graduate College of Social Work, University of Houston, Texas, USA.
*
Address for correspondence: Emily A. Greenfield, School of Social Work Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey536 George St. New Brunswick, NJ 08901 USA E-mail: egreenf@ssw.rutgers.edu
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Abstract

Naturally Occurring Retirement Community Supportive Service Programs (NORC Programs) constitute a national model in the United States of America that aims to benefit older adults ageing in place in their own homes and communities. One central aspect of NORC Programs is the provision of community activities to facilitate older adults’ connections with others. Guided by ecological systems theory, we explored from older adults’ perspectives what influences their participation in the community activities offered by NORC Programs, as well as the meaning of the social contact that such participation affords. We used data from an in-depth interview study with 41 older residents across seven NORC Program sites in the greater New York City area. Themes regarding influences on participation included individual circumstances (personal desire for social activity and health status), programmatic factors (relationships with staff and appeal of the activities) and community contexts (appeal of the other attendees). Perceptions of other attendees also emerged as an influence on the social effects of participation, which ranged from experiencing social contact alone to creating independent friendships. Overall, findings indicate that programme features combine with individual and community contexts to influence diverse experiences of community activities. In addition to implications for organisational practice, we interpret the results in terms of directions for future research regarding how community-based organisations can influence social integration in later life.

Keywords

naturally occurring retirement communitiessocial activitysocial integrationage-friendly community initiativeslonelinessecological systems theorycommunity participationqualitative research
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 37 , Issue 10 , November 2017 , pp. 1987 - 2011
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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