Martinez Iveris L, Crooks Donneth, Kim Kristen S, Tanner Elizabeth
Green Family Foundation Division of Medicine & Society, Department of Humanities, Health & Society, Florida International University, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, 11200 SW 8th Street, AHC-II 462, Miami, FL 33199, USA.
J Cross Cult Gerontol. 2011 Mar;26(1):23-37. doi: 10.1007/s10823-011-9137-y.
There is a growing call for civic engagement, largely in the form of formal volunteering, among older adults in America. This call is a response to the aging of the baby boom population, believed to be the healthiest and wealthiest cohort of older adults to date. It also coincides with the devolution of welfare programs. We argue that current discussions of civic engagement are too narrow and may exclude important informal contributions that older adults make to civic society, and put undue stress on, and devalue those who may not contribute to society due to poor health, poverty or other barriers. We draw on data collected from older adults of lower socio-economic status and diverse ethnic backgrounds in Baltimore City using focus groups to explore their definitions of volunteering and barriers which they face. Through a discussion of existing barriers and motivators for engagement, we critically assess the use of these terms and advance discussions on how to facilitate and value contributions of all older adults. We conclude that civic engagement includes more than formal volunteering and that significant barriers need to be removed to facilitate greater participation of all elders in both formal and informal activities.
在美国，老年人参与公民事务的呼声日益高涨，主要形式为正式的志愿服务。这种呼声是对婴儿潮一代老龄化的回应，这代人被认为是迄今为止最健康、最富有的老年人群体。它也与福利项目的下放同时出现。我们认为，当前关于公民参与的讨论过于狭隘，可能会排除老年人对公民社会做出的重要非正式贡献，并且给那些因健康不佳、贫困或其他障碍而无法为社会做出贡献的人带来过度压力并贬低他们。我们利用从巴尔的摩市社会经济地位较低且种族背景多样的老年人那里收集的数据，通过焦点小组来探讨他们对志愿服务的定义以及所面临的障碍。通过讨论参与的现有障碍和动机，我们批判性地评估这些术语的使用，并推进关于如何促进和重视所有老年人贡献的讨论。我们得出结论，公民参与不仅仅包括正式的志愿服务，而且需要消除重大障碍，以促进所有老年人更多地参与正式和非正式活动。
