Participation in community activities through Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) Supportive Service Programs

Abstract

Naturally Occurring Retirement Community Supportive Service Programs (NORC Programs) constitute a national model in the United States of America that aims to benefit older adults ageing in place in their own homes and communities. One central aspect of NORC Programs is the provision of community activities to facilitate older adults’ connections with others. Guided by ecological systems theory, we explored from older adults’ perspectives what influences their participation in the community activities offered by NORC Programs, as well as the meaning of the social contact that such participation affords. We used data from an in-depth interview study with 41 older residents across seven NORC Program sites in the greater New York City area. Themes regarding influences on participation included individual circumstances (personal desire for social activity and health status), programmatic factors (relationships with staff and appeal of the activities) and community contexts (appeal of the other attendees). Perceptions of other attendees also emerged as an influence on the social effects of participation, which ranged from experiencing social contact alone to creating independent friendships. Overall, findings indicate that programme features combine with individual and community contexts to influence diverse experiences of community activities. In addition to implications for organisational practice, we interpret the results in terms of directions for future research regarding how community-based organisations can influence social integration in later life.

Once is rarely enough: can social prescribing facilitate adherence to non-clinical community and voluntary sector health services? Empirical evidence from Germany

“…The main variable of interest was "social prescription", which was a binary variable and equal to one if a patient was referred to the service by a primary or secondary care professional or zero if the patient had self-referred to the service. We controlled for variables suggested in prior research to be relevant to patient engagement and adherence, namely gender [21,[29][30][31], age [21,32,33], geographical distance to the service [15] and type of illness or reason for using the service, i.e. overweight or obesity or a psychological concern [34,35].…”

Once is Rarely Enough: Can Cocial Prescribing Facilitate Adherence to Non-clinical Community and Voluntary Sector Health Services? Empirical Evidence from Germany

“…We controlled for variables suggested in prior research to be relevant to patient engagement and adherence, namely gender [19,[27][28][29], age [19,30,31], geographical distance to the service [13] and type of illness or reason for using the service, i.e. overweight or obesity or a psychological concern [32,33].…”

Once is rarely enough: Can social prescribing facilitate adherence to non-clinical community and voluntary sector health services? Empirical evidence from Germany

“…We controlled for variables suggested in prior research to be relevant to patient engagement and adherence, namely gender [21,[29][30][31], age [21,32,33], geographical distance to the service [15] and type of illness or reason for using the service, i.e. overweight or obesity or a psychological concern [34,35].…”