Durham County socially isolated older adults, Durham, NC : an action-oriented community diagnosis : findings and next steps of action
Creators: name: Debnam, Katrina
name: Shirey, Lauren
name: Parikh, Sapana
name: Morris, Ingrid
name: Harris, Julie
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2002

description: Between January and May of 2002, a team of five master’s students from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, School of Public Health, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, completed an Action Oriented Community Diagnosis (AOCD) focusing on the socially isolated seniors of Durham County. The goal of the AOCD was to better understand the strengths and needs of the socially isolated senior community. In order to accomplish this, the team further defined the community as, “seniors who are not as connected to services or other seniors as they could or would like to be”. The students secured approval from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Public Health Institutional Review Board (IRB). The student team then reviewed secondary data, about Durham County as a whole, and specifically about senior citizens, to better understand the community. The students also attended several meetings with service providers to learn more about the resources available to senior citizens. The team’s preceptors provided referrals for both community members and service providers to interview. Other agencies that serve senior citizens, and especially more isolated senior citizens, helped secure the permission of community members to interview. The students developed interview and focus group guides to collect primary data. The team interviewed a total of 32 individuals. Eight service providers and 16 community members were interviewed individually. Two focus groups were also conducted, one with service providers (five participants) and one with caregivers for seniors (three participants). An analysis of the interviews showed that several themes commonly emerged in both the service provider and community member interviews. The most common themes were: transportation, crime, economy, physical and environmental hazards, lack of a coordinated referral system for services, race relations, social support, respite care needs, attitudes of seniors, and religion/faith. While senior citizens and service providers agreed upon the main themes, there were differences on the dimensions of some of the themes. A community forum was organized by the team in order to share findings on the strengths and needs of the socially isolated seniors, to the larger community. Service providers and community members were invited to serve on the forum planning committee in order to have a forum that best met the needs of the community. The community forum, “Seniors and Those Who Care for them: A Dialogue for Action” was held on Sunday April 28, 2002. Approximately 40 participants attended, including the planning committee members. During the forum, the team of students presented the themes that emerged from the interviews. The participants then broke into small groups for discussions and the development of action steps that would improve the quality of life for isolated seniors in Durham County. Finally, each group reported back upon action items they plan to pursue and a closing was delivered by the director of the Council for Senior Citizens. Future actions will be supported by the Keeping In Step/Senior Issues Team (KIS/SIT), a coalition that focuses on improving services for senior citizens in Durham County. Participants at the forum were encouraged to join the KIS/SIT team to work together to build upon the strengths of the community and to achieve change that will benefit the health and well-being of socially isolated seniors in Durham County.