Emlet Charles A, Moceri Joane T
Social Work Program, University of Washington Tacoma, Tacoma, WA 98401, USA.
J Aging Res. 2012;2012:173247. doi: 10.1155/2012/173247. Epub 2011 Nov 24.
The purpose of this paper is to further elucidate the importance of social relationships and social connectedness with aging in place and in developing elder-friendly communities. The process used in this study was inclusive of younger adults (age 40-65) as well as older adults (65+) in order to further understand how they envision a community that could support their own aging in place. A community forum, using the World Café format, was conducted in order to engage community members, 40 years and older, in conversation about the importance of social connectedness in elder-friendly communities. A second purpose of this forum was to obtain data on what would keep aging boomers in their community as they age. Three major themes emerged from qualitative analysis of the forum: social reciprocity, meaningful interactions, and structural needs/barriers. The results of this study reinforce the importance of social connectedness in creating and maintaining elder-friendly communities for older adults, as well as soon-to-be retired individuals, wishing to maintain life connectedness to their community. The study suggests the possibility of using more nontraditional research techniques (such as the World Café process) for gathering community level data.
本文的目的是进一步阐明社会关系以及社会联系对于就地养老和建设老年友好型社区的重要性。本研究采用的过程涵盖了年轻人（40 - 65岁）以及老年人（65岁以上），以便进一步了解他们如何设想一个能够支持自身就地养老的社区。举办了一场采用世界咖啡馆形式的社区论坛，让40岁及以上的社区成员参与关于社会联系在老年友好型社区中的重要性的讨论。该论坛的第二个目的是获取关于如何能让婴儿潮一代在社区中安度晚年的数据。对该论坛的定性分析得出了三个主要主题：社会互惠、有意义的互动以及结构需求/障碍。本研究结果强化了社会联系对于为老年人以及希望与社区保持生活联系的即将退休人员创建和维护老年友好型社区的重要性。该研究表明使用更多非传统研究技术（如世界咖啡馆过程）来收集社区层面数据的可能性。
