Research That Matters (January 17 - 20, 2008)

Community is a critical element to successful aging in place. It provides for the production/distribution of goods/services and opportunities for social participation and mutual support. It helps to meet the physical, emotional and social needs of the elderly through affective bonds and instrumental relationships. Not all communities have the necessary assets to support aging in place and some may require active intervention to generate those assets. An interdisciplinary effort at the University of Pennsylvania was launched in 2004, to begin to assess the needs of older adults residing in the communities adjacent to the University. This forum of faculty, students and administrators from social work, nursing, design, urban planning, law, medicine, government and community-based organizations began an integrated effort to understand how to build elder-friendly urban environments that would support aging in place. It is intended to address the myriad of housing, health, and quality of life issues facing the community's senior residents through a rich and diverse integration of interdisciplinary social science research and community participation. This effort utilized a range of research methods to understand community challenges and opportunities, including community-based participatory research, SWOT analyses, surveys, GIS, and secondary analysis. Spatial modeling is a particularly helpful method to further elucidate the environmental impact of socio economic data regarding older adults and integrate different types of data to emphasize the role of place and its impact on the quality of older adults' lives. The role of spatial modeling in enhancing understanding of this community will be discussed along with a presentation of the various maps generated. Critical findings that will be presented include: A majority (30-60%) of neighborhoods have older residents who are residents since 1969; those with physical disabilities are concentrated in areas with older homes; most are impoverished; and 70% have mortgages that are 35% of their income. These secondary results were combined with focus group interviews of older community residents in order to further our understanding of the community. Community strengths/opportunities identified included: resilient indigenous leaders, strong sense of connection to the community, successful examples of community-based collaboration, high degree of home ownership (83%), and university/community organization resources. Weaknesses/challenges included: very old housing stock in need of repair (60%), many areas with residents age 85 and older, many residents with disabilities (70%) and high poverty rates (30%). Two critical areas for future community participatory research and action were identified and will be discussed along with application of this approach to urban settings around the globe. We anticipate that our findings and the innovative collaborations that are being planned in teaching and community participation, will be transferable to other older urban communities with significant older adult populations.