Effects of Neighborhood and Individual Change on the Personal Outcomes of Recent Movers to Low-Income Senior Housing

2008 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 592-617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey C. Smith ◽  
Gina M. Sylvestre
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Individual Change ◽  
Senior Housing

scholarly journals Social Networks and Physical Activity in Senior Housing: A Pilot Feasibility Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 201-208
Author(s):  
Noah J. Webster ◽  
Toni C. Antonucci ◽  
Neil B. Alexander
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Strategic Partnership ◽  
Multiple Chronic Conditions ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Senior Housing ◽  
Physical Activity Interventions

Objective: Only 16% of people aged >65 years engage in recommended levels of physical activity, putting a vast major­ity at risk for multiple chronic conditions including heart disease. Physical activity is even lower among older adults with fewer economic resources. Research is needed to develop context-specific approaches to pair with physical activity interventions to increase effectiveness. In this pilot study, we examine social ties and physical activity levels of older adults living in a US Depart­ment of Housing and Urban Development subsidized senior housing community to test feasibility of a social network-based approach to physical activity interventions. This study is grounded in Social Contagion Theory and the Convoy Model of Social Relations, which argue health and health-related behaviors are facilitated through network ties.Methods: Data were collected through face-to-face interviews conducted over the course of three months (September- November 2018) with 46 residents living in a low-income senior housing community in southeast Michigan. Residents were asked about physical activity, people they know in the community, and their close social network composition.Results: Residents reported knowing, on average, six other residents and approxi­mately 28% of those in their close networks were also residents. Sociocentric network analysis identified two socially engaged (known by seven or more other residents) physically active residents, whereas ego-centric analysis identified four (60% or more of their network comprised residents).Conclusions: This study demonstrates potential feasibility of a strategic partnership that involves pairing social resources with physical activity interventions in afford­able senior housing. Multiple approaches, which need to be evaluated, exist to identify socially engaged residents.Ethn Dis. 2019;29(Suppl 1): 201-208; doi:10.18865/ ed.29.S1.201.

scholarly journals Engaging older adults as advocates for age-friendly, walkable communities: The Senior Change Makers Pilot Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina M Patch ◽  
Terry L Conway ◽  
Jacqueline Kerr ◽  
Elva M Arredondo ◽  
Susan Levy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Senior Housing ◽  
Advocacy Training ◽  
Advocacy Program ◽  
Transportation Activity

Abstract As the U.S. population ages, communities must adapt to help older adults thrive. Built environment features, like safe sidewalks and crosswalks, provide the foundation for age- and physical activity-friendly communities. Controlled studies are needed to evaluate advocacy training programs that instruct and support seniors to advocate for more walkable neighborhoods. The Senior Change Makers Pilot Study evaluated an advocacy program that taught seniors to evaluate pedestrian environments using the validated MAPS-Mini audit tool, identify barriers, and advocate for improvements. Participants (n = 50) were recruited from four low-income senior housing sites in San Diego, CA, which were randomly assigned to an 8-week advocacy program or physical activity (PA) comparison intervention. Evaluation included surveys, accelerometers to assess PA, and direct observation. Primary outcomes were seniors’ advocacy confidence and skills. Main analyses used repeated measures ANOVAs. Seniors in the advocacy condition (n = 17) increased their advocacy outcome efficacy (p = .03) and knowledge of resources (p = .04) more than seniors in the PA condition (n = 33). Most seniors in the advocacy condition completed a street audit (84%), submitted an advocacy request (79%), or made an advocacy presentation to city staff (58%). Environmental changes included repairs to sidewalks and crosswalks. City staff approved requests for lighting, curb cuts, and crosswalk markings. Seniors’ accelerometer-measured PA did not significantly increase, but self-reported transportation activity increased in the PA condition (p = .04). This study showed the potential of advocacy training to empower seniors to make communities more age- and activity-friendly.

scholarly journals PRESIDENTIAL SYMPOSIUM: HARNESSING SOCIAL NETWORKS TO OPTIMIZE ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXTS FOR DIVERSE AGING EXPERIENCES

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S583-S583
Author(s):  
Philip A Rozario ◽  
Emily Greenfield ◽  
Nancy Kusmaul
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Disaster Preparedness ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Senior Housing

Abstract Social networks provide opportunities for engagement with others and structure the receipt and provision of emotional, instrumental, informational and appraisal support. Indeed scholars in this field have documented the importance of having strong social networks in influencing older adults’ well-being and quality of life. The three papers in this symposium draw on the convoy model of social relations and ecological model to examine and better understand the micro, mezzo, macro contexts that shape and influence how older people engage with and benefit from their networks in three areas: low-income senior housing communities, urban areas specifically targeting older Latinos with dementia, and disaster preparedness in micropolitan counties in eastern Iowa. The first paper, a cross-sectional study focusing on social connections in senior housing communities, examines levels of social networks, engagement, support and loneliness and their relationship with well-being outcomes. The second paper, a community-based participatory research project, reports an intervention that seeks to train natural helpers in a predominantly Latino urban neighborhood to identify and refer older Latinos with dementia to bilingual assessment services. The third paper, synthesizing findings from interventions targeting network building at the individual and state levels as well as a community-based network analysis, presents ways to strengthen networks at the mezzo and macro levels as well as environmental contexts that enable better disaster preparedness for community-based older adults. These papers will consider practice, policy and research implications in strengthening social networks and engagement to optimize older adults’ well-being in various settings.

Low-Income Senior Housing Residents’ Emergency Department Use and Care Transition Problems

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 610-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoinette B. Coe ◽  
Leticia R. Moczygemba ◽  
Kelechi C. Ogbonna ◽  
Pamela L. Parsons ◽  
Patricia W. Slattum ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Personal Health Record ◽  
Primary Care Providers ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Transitions Of Care ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Senior Housing ◽  
Follow Up Care

Older adults may be at risk of adverse outcomes after emergency department (ED) visits due to ineffective transitions of care. Semi-structured interviews were employed to identify and categorize reasons for ED use and problems that occur during transition from the ED back to home among 14 residents of low-income senior housing. Qualitative thematic and descriptive analyses were used. Ambulance use, timely ED use or a wait-and-see approach, and lack of health-care provider contact before ED visit were emergent themes. Delayed medication receipt, no current medication list, and medication knowledge gaps were identified. Lack of a personal health record, follow-up care instruction, and worsening symptoms education emerged as transition problems from ED to home. After an ED visit, education opportunities exist around seeing primary care providers for nonurgent conditions, follow-up care, medications, and worsening condition symptoms. Timely receipt of discharge medications and medication education may improve medication-related transition problems.

Differential Aging in Place and Depressive Symptoms: Interplay Among Time, Income, and Senior Housing

2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sojung Park ◽  
BoRin Kim ◽  
Yoonsun Han
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Aging In Place ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Income Group ◽  
Senior Housing ◽  
Housing Environment ◽  
Age In Place ◽  
Retirement Study ◽  
Over Time

Objective: We examined cumulative and differential experiences of aging in place. Method: Data came from the 2002 and 2010 wave of the Health Retirement Study. We modeled the trajectory of later-life depressive symptoms, and how senior-housing environments moderate the negative association between economic disadvantages and depressive symptoms. Results: At baseline, economically disadvantaged older adults were more likely to exhibit depressive symptoms. However, detrimental effects of income group (non-low income vs. moderate income; non-low income vs. low income) on depressive symptoms did not significantly change over time. The age-leveler hypothesis may account for nonsignificant effects of disadvantaged income groups over time. Discussion: Findings suggest that moderate-income seniors may experience positive differentials if they age in place in a supportive senior-housing environment. Moderate-income seniors may have broader opportunities in senior housing compared to private-home peers. Senior housing might partially counter risks such as low mental health, emerging from life-course disadvantage.

scholarly journals “Aging in Displacement: Urban Revitalization and Puerto Rican Elderhood in Chicago”

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mérida M. Rúa
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rican ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Puerto Ricans ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Senior Housing ◽  
Age In Place ◽  
Housing Security ◽  
History Narratives ◽  
The Individual

Displacement has marked the individual and collective lives of Puerto Ricans in Chicago, especially those who migrated in the 1950s and 1960s. For these older persons, the arrival of the gentry and the yuppies of yesterday, the hipsters of today, and the disappearance of familiar faces in their current neighborhoods are not new phenomena, but rather parts of a profoundly familiar process. They came of age in displacement. Today some Puerto Rican older adults have achieved housing security and are able to age in place because they live in low-income senior housing. Yet a sense of displacement still looms large in their daily lives with the upscaling of and new-build gentrification in their current neighborhood. This work sheds light on the meaning of place for older adult Puerto Ricans who have experienced what psychiatrist and urban studies scholar Mindy T. Fullilove calls a history of “serial displacement.” Through life history narratives and ethnographic snapshots, this paper highlights the neglected reality of “aging in displacement,” or the experience of growing up and growing older in a context of repeated socio-spatial dislocation and how individual and collective life histories of community upheaval texture the spatial and social meanings of place.

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