WHAT’S NEXT FOR VILLAGE-MODEL PROGRAMS?: INNOVATIONS SCALABILITY AND DIVERSITY

摘要

In 2006 a neighborhood in Boston founded the first Village-model program and community-dwelling older adults in neighborhoods all over the country began emulating that model and taking concept of Aging in Community into their own hands. By 2018, there were over 200 operational Villages in the US with hundreds more in development. Villages tend to be highly consumer-driven, membership organizations that provide support services with the goal of promoting aging in community and preventing unwanted relocations in old age. And while Villages are evolving and changing, more than a decade after the first Village was founded, most Villages remain relatively homogenous, catering mostly to well-resourced, highly-educated, white older adults. This symposium summarizes a decade of research on Villages to explore the future of the Village movement. Dr. Carrie Graham will review three main bodies of UC Berkeley Village research, including repeated organizational surveys of Villages that document the development of Villages since 2009; results of a large national survey of Village members to revealing self-reported outcomes, and a survey of non-participation in Villages documenting why older adults decide to drop out. Roscoe Nicholson of Mather LifeWays will present mixed-methods research documenting two innovative trends in Villages aimed at promoting sustainability: Village regional coalitions, and low and “no dues” Villages. Dr. Allen Glickman from Philadelphia Corporation on Aging will report on qualitative research examining two types of volunteer-run aging in place models: those that aim to improve service access and those that aim to expand social networks.