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Where Would You Turn for Help? Older Adults' Awareness of Community Support Services*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

M. Denton ,
J. Ploeg ,
J. Tindale ,
B. Hutchison ,
K. Brazil ,
N. Akhtar-Danesh ,
M. Quinlan ,
J. Lillie ,
J. Millen Plenderleith  and
L. Boos
M. Denton*
Affiliation:
Department of Health, Aging and Society, McMaster University Department of Sociology, McMaster University McMaster Centre for Gerontological Studies
J. Ploeg
Affiliation:
Department of Health, Aging and Society, McMaster University School of Nursing, McMaster University
J. Tindale
Affiliation:
Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph
B. Hutchison
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis, McMaster University
K. Brazil
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University
N. Akhtar-Danesh
Affiliation:
School of Nursing, McMaster University
M. Quinlan
Affiliation:
United Way of Burlington and Greater Hamilton
J. Lillie
Affiliation:
Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph
J. Millen Plenderleith
Affiliation:
McMaster Centre for Gerontological Studies
L. Boos
Affiliation:
McMaster Centre for Gerontological Studies
*
Requests for offprints should be sent to:/Les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à: Dr. Margaret Denton, Director, McMaster Centre for Gerontological Studies. Professor, Department of Health, Aging and Society and Department of Sociology, McMaster University, KTH 226, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8P 4M4, (mdenton@mcmaster.ca)
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Abstract

Previous findings on older adults' awareness of community support services (CSSs) have been inconsistent and marred by acquiescence or over-claiming bias. To address this issue, this study used a series of 12 vignettes to describe common situations faced by older adults for which CSSs might be appropriate. In telephone interviews, 1,152 adults aged 50 years and over were read a series of vignettes and asked if they were able to identify a community organization or agency that they may turn to in that situation. They were also asked about their most important sources of information about CSSs. The findings show that, using a vignette methodology, awareness of CSSs is much lower than previously thought. The most important sources of information about CSSs included information and referral sources, the telephone book, doctors' offices, and word of mouth.

Résumé

Les résultats précédents visant la sensibilisation des aînés aux services de soutien communautaires ne s'accordent pas et sont gâchés par l'acquiescence ou des allégations de partialité. Cela étant, la présente étude a utilisé une série de 12 scénarios pour décrire des situations courantes dans lesquelles se retrouvent les aînés pour qui des services de soutien communautaires seraient appropriés. Lors d'une entrevue téléphonique, nous avons lu à 1152 adultes âgés de 50 et plus une série de scénarios et nous leur avons demandé s'ils pouvaient indiquer un organisme communautaire vers lequel ils pourraient se tourner dans cette situation précise. Nous leur avons aussi interrogés sur leurs plus importantes sources de renseignements en matière de services de soutien communautaires. Les résultats indiquent que, si l'on a recours à une méthodologie par scénarios, la sensibilisation aux services de soutien communautaires était beaucoup plus faible qu'on ne l'avait d'abord pensé. Les plus importantes sources de renseignements sur les services de soutien communautaires comprenaient des sources de référence et des renseignements, l'annuaire téléphonique, les bureaux de médecins, et le bouche-à-oreille.

Keywords

vieillissementservices de soutien communautairessensibilisationconnaissancepartialitéméthodologie par scénariosagingcommunity support servicesawarenessknowledgeacquiescence biasvignette methodology
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 27 , Issue 4 , Winter/Hiver 2008 , pp. 359 - 370
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2008

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Footnotes

*

The authors would like to thank the following organizations and their employees for the valuable contributions that they made in the development and analysis of this research: Catholic Family Services of Hamilton, Linda Dayler; Coalition of Community Health and Support Services, Lynne Edwards; Community Information Hamilton, Lesley Russell; Seniors Activation Maintenance Program, Lynne Edwards and Dave Banko; Grocer-Ease, Bev Morgan; Hamilton Community Care Access Centre, Sherry Parsley, Tom Peirce, and Dianne Thompson; Ontario Community Support Association (OCSA), Susan Thorning and Taru Virkamaki; Regional Geriatric Program (Central), David Jewell; Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton (SPRC), Don Jaffray; United Way of Burlington and Greater Hamilton, Monica Quinlan.

This research was funded by the following organizations: Canadian Institutes of Health Research – Institute of Aging, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care, United Way of Burlington and Greater Hamilton, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council through funding of the Major Collaborative Research Initiatives (MCRI) (Socio-economic Dimensions of an Aging Population).

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