Pathways to age-friendly communities in diverse urban neighborhoods: Do social capital and social cohesion matter?

Using a social capital and social cohesion lens, we reposition the concept of civic engagement among older adults to examine pathways for building age-friendly communities. We analyzed data drawn from a Community-Based Participatory Research study in the Southern U.S. that explored lived experiences...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of gerontological social work 2018-07, Vol.61 (5), p.492-512
Main Authors: Parekh, Rupal, Maleku, Arati, Fields, Noelle, Adorno, Gail, Schuman, Donna, Felderhoff, Brandi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Action research
African Americans
Age
Aging
Citizen participation
Community based action research
Community research
Connectedness
Ethnic groups
Ethnic identity
Ethnicity
Hispanic Americans
Immigrants
Low income groups
Marginality
Minority groups
Neighborhoods
Older people
Participatory research
Social capital
Social cohesion
Social identity
Social networks
Social perception
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Summary:Using a social capital and social cohesion lens, we reposition the concept of civic engagement among older adults to examine pathways for building age-friendly communities. We analyzed data drawn from a Community-Based Participatory Research study in the Southern U.S. that explored lived experiences of older adults, age 55 and above, who participated in individual interviews (n = 15) and six focus group discussions (n = 45) to examine their perceptions of social identity, social connectedness, and civic engagement geared toward an age-friendly city. Findings indicated that several older adults had access to social networks and socially invested resources, thereby having opportunities for civic engagement and building age-friendly neighborhoods. However, social, cultural, linguistic, and structural barriers were more evident among certain diverse ethnic populations. Marginalized low-income minorities and immigrants, such as Hispanic participants, felt the lack of social cohesion among the larger society limited their ability to give back, thus decreasing their civic engagement activities. In contrast, Caucasian and African-American older adults were able to contribute to the political process through more civic participation activities. We provide implications for examining the role of social capital and social engagement to bolster civic engagement among older adults in building age-friendly communities.
ISSN:0163-4372
1540-4048
DOI:10.1080/01634372.2018.1454564