Older men’s participation in community life: Notions of social capital,health, and empowerment

This article presents findings from a U.K. Health Development Agency project on the relationship between social capital, health, and gender. This was a qualitative case study of a socially deprived community involving interviews with 77 community members. Of these, 39 men took part, including 18 older men. For these older men, community life was constructed around health, family, and employment status. The deterioration of their health status necessitated renegotiation of their sense of manhood within the context of community decline. Many failed to participate in community life, feeling physically vulnerable, undervalued, and socially and psychologically disempowered. Moreover, mistrust of young men on the estate, together with perceived dominance of older women in community spaces, excluded the men from venues affording them the potential to develop social capital. For the few who did participate in community life, informal helping of neighbors was more common than collective action, thereby developing the capacity for building social networks, albeit on a limited basis. She has been involved in several research projects exploring the relationship between health, gender, and social capital. Currently her research interests include ageing, health and community, well-being, and environment. Her research interests include ageing and ethnicity, community health, and social capital.     

Promoting dementia‐friendly communities to improve the well‐being of individuals with and without dementia

A community is the totality of human relationships, in which individuals live with and for others. This article discusses promoting dementia‐friendly community from the perspective of human relationships within a community. Improving the social well‐being of aging people is important; it is especially important for people with dementia, as dementia is a life‐changing syndrome that affects all aspects of one's life, including human relationships. Dementia‐friendly community requires support from the community in improving the social adaptation of people with dementia, as they experience greater difficulties in social interaction as a result of cognitive decline, especially deterioration of social cognition. They need to be empowered to stay motivated for the opportunity to maintain an active and meaningful life, despite dementia. Flexible provisions of such tailored support can be effective to improve the support network in the community to meet the individual's needs. As social and human resources are limited, it is also necessary to discuss how to share socioeconomic burdens to meet both social sustainability demands and the welfare of aging adults. More discussions that include people with dementia and their family members are required to achieve the purpose of dementia‐friendly community. This is important to enhance the well‐being of individuals with and without dementia, as well as the society as a whole, through dementia support and dementia prevention activities. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2020; ??: ??–?? .     

If you build it will they come? Addressing social isolation within a technology-based HIV intervention for young black men who have sex with men

The rate of HIV infections among young black men who have sex with men (YBMSM) continues to rise at an alarming pace. YBMSM are particularly vulnerable to social isolation and a lack of social support due to experiences with racism and homophobia, which may have implications for sexual risk behaviors. The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of social isolation and sense of community among YBMSM, the need for and receptivity to social networking features designed to reduce social isolation and build community within an Internet- and mobile phone-based primary and secondary HIV prevention intervention for YBMSM and to identify strategies to develop these features. Focus groups were conducted with 22 YBMSM aged 20–30 years at three sites in North Carolina. Data from the focus groups were thematically analyzed using NVivo. Feelings of social isolation and lack of a sense of community were strongly endorsed by participants with homophobia, lack of opportunities for social engagement, and a focus on sex rather than friendship in interpersonal relationships with other YBMSM cited as contributing factors. Participants were receptive to a social networking intervention designed to reduce social isolation and build community. Recommendations offered by participants to increase acceptability and usability of such features included: availability of information about healthy relationships, the ability to connect with other YBMSM and health care providers, and ensuring the site had ongoing facilitation by the study team as well as monitoring for inappropriate content. The development of a social networking feature of an HIV prevention intervention may present an opportunity to reduce social isolation, build community, and reduce risky sexual behaviors among YBMSM. The findings from this study are being used to inform the development of a social networking feature for an existing Internet- and mobile phone-based primary and secondary HIV prevention intervention for YBMSM.     

Social capital,health, and care home residence among older adults: a secondary analysis of the Health Survey for England 2000

This secondary analysis of the Health Survey for England 2000 aimed to investigate whether individual-level social capital is associated with care home residence and with function, mental health, and self-assessed health in older adults. Older adults in both care home and community residential settings were included. Two indicators of social capital, perceived social support and group participation, were considered for both care home and community-dwelling respondents. Amongst community dwellers, trust in others was considered as a third indicator. Functional impairment, psychiatric morbidity, and self-assessed health were used as indicators of health. Multivariable modelling was undertaken using logistic or ordinal logistic regression. The results show that severe lack of social support was associated with over twice the odds of care home residence, with increased odds of psychiatric morbidity in both care home and community settings, and with more severe functional impairment and worse self-assessed health in the community but not in care homes. Participation in more groups was associated with lower odds of functional impairment in both settings, and with lower odds of psychiatric morbidity and better self-assessed health among community but not among care home respondents. High levels of trust were associated with lower severity of functional impairment, reduced odds of psychiatric morbidity, and better self-assessed health. It is concluded that individual-level social capital was associated with care home residence and with indicators of physical, mental and self-assessed health. These associations differed between community and care home settings, and were generally stronger in the community.     

‘I'm older and more interested in my community’: Older people's contributions to social capital

Aim: To explore and compare older people's contributions to social capital in a large rural community. Methods: Data were collected from a large representative sample (n= 1431), through a social capital questionnaire. The survey was cross‐sectional and measured frequency of participation across different age cohorts in informal social activities, group activities and community and civic activities. Results: Age and life stage pattern proved to be a factor in determining the types of activities people were involved in. While younger people were more involved in social participation that involved public places or group and sporting events, older people, particularly those in the retirement age group of 60–69 were more involved in community and civic activities. Conclusion: Older people living in non‐metropolitan areas are not only recipients of social capital. Their considerable involvement in volunteer groups, service clubs, church groups and local government demonstrates significant involvement in civic and community life.     

Ethnic and gay community attachments and sexual risk behaviors among urban Latino young men who have sex with men.

Culturally relevant prevention programs are required to reduce HIV risk exposure of Latino young men who have sex with men (YMSM). As part of Hermanos Jóvenes, 465 Latino YMSM were surveyed at community venues of New York City outside the gay-identified area of lower Manhattan. We examined factors that influence ethnic and gay community attachments; the association between community attachments and social support in sexual matters; and the relationship between levels of attachment, social support in sexual matters, and sexual risk behaviors. Sixty-eight percent felt closely connected to their ethnic community; about 34% were highly attached to both neighborhood and New York City gay communities. Greater social support in sexual matters was associated with ethnic and gay community attachments. Latino YMSM connected to their ethnic community were about 40% less likely to report recent unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) with a male partner, and 60% less likely to have engaged in UAI during the last sexual contact with a nonmain male partner. Gay community attachment was not significantly related to risk behaviors. Findings point to the importance of ethnic ties and involving ethnic community organizations in HIV prevention efforts.     

Ethnography of a social border: The case of an American retirement community in Mexico

This is an ethnography of older Americans who move to a resort area in Mexico to retire. It first traces the emergence of a collective identity among the older movers and then describes the occasions and manner in which the migrants interact with the host community. Events in this setting draw attention to aspects of social identity, community creation and management of social life. In adapting to the host community these retirees 1) manage social relations among themselves by recreating the social forms and world view of their homeland; 2) modify traditional American behavior and cultural symbols in response to the features and demands of the external environment; and 3) manipulate relations with the host community so as to preserve their privileged life style. When the research focus shifts from the internal dimensions of community life to the arenas of interaction with the host community, age is of less social significance than migrancy as an ordering principal of social life.This article is based upon a dissertation. The author is indebted to the people at Lakeside for their hospitality and forebearance, to Dr. William Arens for his advice and counsel throughout all phases of the research and to Dr. Lucille Nahemow and Dr. Eugene Thomas for their useful comments on early drafts of this paper.     

Building Community and Organisational Capacity to Enable Social Participation for Ageing Australian Rural Populations: A Resource-Based Perspective

In the context of neoliberal approaches to rural service delivery, the role of community organisations in creating social opportunities for ageing populations has long been acknowledged. However, there is little evidence concerning which types of resources diverse rural community stakeholders require to deliver these supports, and how these are accessed in contexts of population growth and ageing. From the Australian perspective, this research identifies how non-declining rural communities are responding to challenges that influence their capacity to enable social participation for older residents. Drawing on interviews with 26 community stakeholders across two rural communities, it explores the interconnectivity among resources that build organisational capacity to deliver social supports in the rural context, and the role and scope of bridging social capital in mobilising these resources. Findings indicate that bridging capital allows diverse rural community groups to access key physical, financial, human or organisational resources, particularly in the context of demand resulting from population ageing and growth. However, there are differences between public sector, large and small voluntary organisations in terms of the types of resources they require, and the contributions made to community bridging capital.     

New ways to provide community aged care services

This paper will focus on the provision of community aged care services via ‘direct payments’ and ‘social enterprise’. These are two solutions that were not fully considered by the Productivity Commission as a way to make the provision of community aged care more sustainable in Australia. The empowerment component of social enterprise activities and ‘direct payments’ have the potential to generate improvements in the community aged care system.     

Cultivating Community: Perceptions of Community Garden and Reasons for Participating in a Rural Victorian Town

Community gardens can offer a range of psychosocial benefits to individuals who utilize them including nutritional, social, psychological benefits, as well as the opportunity to become connected to nature. However, we know little about how community gardens are perceived and reasons that make people participate in community gardens in rural Australian towns. This paper addresses these issues among a group of older persons who reside in a rural Australian town. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 older persons. Findings highlighted the benefits associated with participation in a rural community garden including forming social support networks in order to cultivate social capital. Community gardens created social connectedness among the participants, which could lead to better overall health and well-being. The main reason for their initial involvement with the community garden was that they were new to the area. Joining the group to develop support networks within the local area would allow them to cultivate social capital in their new living environment. Our findings can inform government policies regarding localized food sustainability programs, which is important given the increasing popularity of such programs Australia-wide and elsewhere.     

Measuring aspects of social capital in a gerontological perspective

Within the last 10 years, there has been a growing interest in the importance of social capital and older people. The aims of the study are to advance measurements of aspects of social capital based on bonding, bridging and linking that can be used to study the impact of the local community on community-dwelling older populations and to study the distribution of these three measurements of social capital in 34 municipalities. Data are from a Danish prospective cohort study on preventive home visits among 4,034 old people 75+ in 34 municipalities in Denmark. The measurements of aspects of social capital at community level are based on theory of bonding, bridging and linking social capital. It has been possible to analyse variations in the three measurements of social capital in the 34 municipalities and to characterize different municipalities according to high versus low social capital. There are interesting patterns in distribution of the three measurements. The two extreme groups of municipalities (high and low social capital) differ with regard to demography, social and structural conditions in the municipalities. We believe that the proposed measures of social capital will be relevant in future studies of social capital and health in older populations, since they are theoretically based and cover different aspects of social capital related to older people and their local community.     

Towards a "fourth generation" of approaches to HIV/AIDS management: creating contexts for effective community mobilisation

Many biomedical and behavioural HIV/AIDS programmes aimed at prevention, care and treatment have disappointing outcomes because of a lack of effective community mobilisation. But community mobilisation is notoriously difficult to bring about. We present a conceptual framework that maps out those dimensions of social context that are likely to support or undermine community mobilisation efforts, proposing that attention should be given to three dimensions of social context: the material, symbolic and relational. This paper has four parts. We begin by outlining why community mobilisation is regarded as a core dimension of effective HIV/AIDS management: it increases the "reach" and sustainability of programmes; it is a vital component of the wider "task shifting" agenda given the scarcity of health professionals in many HIV/AIDS-vulnerable contexts. Most importantly it facilitates those social psychological processes that we argue are vital preconditions for effective prevention, care and treatment. Secondly we map out three generations of approaches to behaviour change within the HIV/AIDS field: HIV-awareness, peer education and community mobilisation. We critically evaluate each approach's underlying assumptions about the drivers of behaviour change, to frame our understandings of the pathways between mobilisation and health, drawing on the concepts of social capital, dialogue and empowerment. Thirdly we refer to two well-documented case studies of community mobilisation in India and South Africa to illustrate our claim that community mobilisation is unlikely to succeed in the absence of supportive material, symbolic and relational contexts. Fourthly we provide a brief overview of how the papers in this special issue help us flesh out our conceptualisation of the "health enabling social environment". We conclude by arguing for the urgent need for a 'fourth generation' of approaches in the theory and practice of HIV/AIDS management, one which pays far greater attention to the wider contextual influences on programme success.     

Social Capital in Romanian Old People: Meanings and Opportunities for Health

Romanian pensioners are among the poorest in the European Union, making them a vulnerable group in terms of health and well-being. Social capital could act as a buffer and protect old people from health inequalities. Although the percentage of old persons has increased in Romania, little is known about their social capital, namely their social networks, their engagement in the community, their perceptions of residential areas and norms of trust and reciprocity. The present study set out to explore the structure and meanings of social capital in Romanian old people, namely the structural, cognitive and behavioural aspects of social capital in old Romanians, as well as the linking, bonding and bridging dimensions of social capital. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 men and 6 women, aged 60 to 69. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. All in all, Romanian pensioners display a lack of linking and bridging social capital. The most important social structure is the family, which provides both emotional and financial support. Norms of trust and reciprocity function only within the family but not the community. One of the main themes was lack of trust in the community and state institutions and reluctance to engage in community affairs as this is perceived to be the role of younger people. Rural areas are perceived as friendlier and more trustworthy and seen as an ideal residential area. Starting from these findings, interventions can be designed to increase linking, bridging and bonding social capital in old persons and create age-friendly environments.     

Raising parents' awareness of the benefits of immunization by using a visual aid tool

A visual aid tool was used in two communities of Chad to raise parents' awareness of the benefits of immunization. In one community, the tool was administered by social workers two weeks before national immunization days (NIDs) and in the other community by vaccinators during NIDs. Parents' awareness significantly rose in both communities but was more significant in the community where the tool was administered by social workers. A significant association was found between parents' unawareness and children who missed immunization in both communities.     

Historical and Global Perspectives on Social Policy and “Aging in Community”

This article provides an introduction to the special issue of Ageing International on Aging in Community by putting related issues in perspective in order to maintain a comprehensive understanding of the changing fields of aging, family, community, and social policy. Going beyond a current trend of “aging in place” (AIP), it reviews community care that once dominated social policy dialog in the United Kingdom, as well as community service that was once regarded as a main solution to the social issues of reformist China. The case of the United States is also highlighted by reviewing a scholarly interest in social support. By citing America’s “non-system” of community support for disabled elderly persons, the article recognizes an outstanding feature of AIP, that is, the “buy-in” from industry or the commercial sector in terms of its role in promoting aging at home. Other key social policy issues as seen in previous debates that baffled policy-makers in various countries, however, remain to be addressed in the much changed environment of the 21st century.     

Translation of an evidence-based social skills intervention for children with prenatal alcohol exposure in a community mental health setting

Background: Children with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) have significant social skills deficits and are often treated in community mental health settings. However, it remains unclear whether these children can be effectively treated using manualized, evidence‐based interventions that have been designed for more general mental health populations. Methods: To shed light on this issue, the effectiveness of Children’s Friendship Training (CFT) versus Standard of Care (SOC) was assessed for 85 children ages 6 to 12 years with and without PAE in a community mental health center. Results: Children participating in CFT showed significantly improved knowledge of appropriate social skills, improved self‐concept, and improvements in parent‐reported social skills compared to children in the SOC condition. Moreover, results revealed that within the CFT condition, children with PAE performed as well as children without PAE. Findings indicated that CFT, an evidence‐based social skills intervention, yielded greater gains than a community SOC social skills intervention and was equally effective for children with PAE as for those without PAE. Conclusions: Results suggest that children with PAE can benefit from treatments initiated in community settings in which therapists are trained to understand their unique developmental needs, and that they can be successfully integrated into treatment protocols that include children without PAE.     

The hospital emergency department as a social welfare institution

In an era of social welfare reform marked by the erosion of a societal safety net, few institutions remain that can guarantee assistance to those most in need. The hospital emergency department is perhaps the only local institution where professional help is mandated by law, with guaranteed availability for all persons, all the time, regardless of the problem. Although the ED serves as a true social safety net, its potential as a social welfare institution generally goes underestimated, hampering its full development as an effective societal resource. More of the disadvantaged may pass through the ED than through any other community institution, making it a logical site not only for the treatment of acute illness, but also for the identification of basic social needs and the extension of existing community resources. By helping more fully incorporate the ED into the total care of its community, emergency physicians can become leaders in the design and implementation of integrated sociomedical systems of care.     

Study of social determinants of malaria in desert part of Rajasthan, India

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: A longitudinal study on social determinants of malaria has been undertaken in different villages of Ramgarh PHC of Jaisalmer district, Rajasthan. The study aims to determine social determinants of malaria as applicable to existing cast groups of desert part of Rajasthan. METHODS: Out of 940 households in five villages, 150 households of Rajput community (forward community) and Meghwal community (backward community) were selected at random to study whether due to different behaviour of existing caste groups, transmission of malaria and its intensity also vary or not. RESULTS: It was found that magnitude of malaria was three times more in the Meghwal community as compared to Rajput community. In-migration of natives importing malaria was found to be prominent cause of more malaria incidence in the backward community. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: An intervention policy aiming to study existing status of knowledge among different caste groups of desert areas could lead to a substantial control over in-migration as well as further transmission of disease in the desert part of Rajasthan.     

Do persons with intellectual disability have a social life? The Israeli reality

Living in the community does not, in and of itself, guarantee social integration and inclusion for persons with intellectual disability. Social life and leisure participation can indicate the beginning of such a process and its impact on the quality of life. The present study investigated the social life quality of persons with intellectual disability who live in community settings or with foster families and its impact on their quality of life. The sample consisted of 85 adults with intellectual disability, ranging in age from 18 to 55 years. Forty-five of them lived in community residential settings and 40 lived with foster families in Israel. Five questionnaires were used: 1) a demographic questionnaire; 2) Quality of Life Questionnaire; 3) the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale; 4) Social Relationships List; and 5) Leisure Activities List. The main findings showed no significant differences between the two groups in social life or feelings of loneliness. Foster residents were more involved and more independent in their leisure activities than were those who lived in community residences. An association between social life and quality of life was partly confirmed. The need for intervention programs and leisure education programs is discussed.