51. Helping to Create an Age-friendly City: A Town & Gown Community Engagement Project.
- Author
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Parker, Michael W., Dunn, Linda L., MacCall, Steven L., Goetz, John, Park, Nan, Li, Allison X., Sims, Samantha, Harrell, Regina, Lee, Hugh, Grant, Elizabeth, Spencer, Chris, Martin, Shadi, Khalifa, Doaa Ahmed, and Koenig, Harold G.
- Subjects
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SERVICES for older people , *DEMOGRAPHIC transition , *URBAN growth , *EMERGENCY management , *DISASTER relief - Abstract
To understand and improve age-friendly communication between religious congregations and local (state and international) agencies, an international, interdisciplinary team of gerontologists, practitioners, and college students initiated a six-part project consisting of two phases using a "town and gown" community engagement model. This initiative was aimed at 1) identifying current levels of service to older persons, the level of partnership between congregations and agencies, and plans for future senior program development; and 2) fostering greater access, communication, and collaboration between community agencies, congregations, and resources in aging using the internet. In Phase I, local leaders from senior service agencies (n=21) and local pastors (n=10) were interviewed by two groups of MSW students. Four other groups of MSW students developed and distributed directories containing local, state, and international resources on aging to participating congregations and agencies. In Phase II, BSW students completed a larger telephone survey of approximately 16% of available congregations in the city to assess services offered to older persons. That survey also helped to update a city-wide congregational directory, which was used to connect participating local congregations and agencies via the internet with the resources developed during Phase I. Practical problems involved in using the internet are discussed (e.g., limited internet access by underserved congregations), important service gaps are detailed (e.g., absence of disaster planning), and other outcomes related to future, age-friendly work in the community are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2013