Elderly persons' preferences for topics of discussion and shared interest groups

Jiska Cohen-Mansfield*, Aleksandra Parpura-Gill, Meg Campbell-Kotler, John Vass, Florence R. Rosenberg

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Less than 20% of elderly persons age 65 and over participate in senior center activities. Therefore, there is a need to clarify the preferences of older persons for activities. This paper represents the first attempt to systematically determine such interests in order to better tailor programs to this population. Participants in the study were 148 residents of five low-income independent senior apartment buildings in Maryland. Two types of assessments of interest were attempted. The highest rates of interest exhibited were for musie groups, followed hy games, health and legal issues, aging/memory problems, and movies or videos. Overall interest in groups was related to higher level of educa tion, greater loneliness, and younger age.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)39-57
Number of pages19
JournalJournal of Gerontological Social Work
Volume44
Issue number3-4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2005
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Activities of interset
  • Group participation
  • Programs responsive to interests of older people

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