Senior Center and the Community Care System

摘要

This paper creates a framework for understanding the potential role of the senior center in a total community effort to address the needs and concerns of older people. The community care system is the total effort a community makes to support its older residents. It includes natural supports (families, friends, neighbors) and formal supports (programs and services offered by public and private agencies, organizations, professional, and volunteer groups). The success of the community care system is determined by the continuity of response to older people's needs and by its flexible array of supports that change as people's needs and choices warrant. Such continuity requires that the formal system be designed to complement the natural supports as needed. The system should provide for chronic needs, but it should also focus on older people's strengths, providing restitution for losses and support for new gains. The role of these centers can be enhanced by giving careful attention to the viewpoints and needs of older people, and the perspective of the community care system (senior center and system coordination, natural supports, and the formal support network). The senior center is a physical focal point for older people, a social institution designed for and by them. In a community with few resources, the center can take on a much larger service delivery role. With the support of area agencies on aging, public officials, planners and funders, the senior center can greatly enhance the total community effort to serve older people. Tabular data are included.