Assignment: Community Resources for Older Individuals
Volunteers, organizations, and political officials in local communities often campaign to improve conditions and provide services to enhance the well-being of residents. If you are the parent of young children, for instance, you might focus on improving the local school or creating safe places where children can play. If you are an individual in later adulthood or a caregiver for an older adult, what community resources might be important to you? What social challenges could be resolved through increased community support?
In this Assignment, you evaluate the resources that your local community currently provides for its older members and propose improvements or additions to better meet older adults' needs.
To Prepare:
• Review the Learning Resources on sociological aspects of later adulthood.
• Using the Internet and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services link in the resources, research agencies in your local community(Miami, Florida, USA) that support the issues and concerns of the older population.
• Note the services provided by these agencies and any gaps you see. Consider what improvements might be made to existing services as well as opportunities for new services to be added.
Submit a 3 to 4 page paper in which you do the following:
• Identify three agencies in your local community that support individuals in later adulthood.
• Provide an overview of the services each provides.
• Identify the service gaps you notice.
• Explain how to improve existing services to address these gaps.
• Describe services that should be added to better serve this population and explain why.
Use the Learning Resources to support your analysis. Make sure to provide APA citations and a reference list.
Required Readings
Zastrow, C. H., Kirst-Ashman, K. K., &Hessenauer, S. L. (2019). Understanding human behavior and the social environment (11th ed.).
Cengage Learning.
• Chapter, "Sociological Aspects of Later Adulthood" (pp. 703-728)
Quach, L. T., Primack, J., Bozzay, M., Madrigal, C., Erqou, S., & Rudolph, J. L. (2021). The intersection of physical and social frailty in older adults. Rhode Island Medical Journal, 104(4), 16-19.
Teater, B., Chonody, J. M., & Davis, N. (2021). Risk and protective factors of loneliness among older adults: The significance of social isolation and quality and type of contact. Social Work in Public Health, 36(2), 128-141.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Aging: Resources near you.