Attitudes of Older Adults About Community-Based Services

Abstract

We currently lack critical information about an important component of community-based service use-attitudes about these services. To understand such attitudes, 115 older adults (age 65+) participated in in-depth interviews. Because of their vulnerability to poor health status, insufficient resources, and low use of formal services relative to their needs, we oversampled African-American and rural elders. Both positive and negative attitudes were expressed about formal services, with five overarching categories of concern emerging from the analyses. These concerns included (1) the quality of the program or staff; (2) security; (3) cost and eligibility requirements; (4) transportation; and (5) logistical elements. Implications and recommendations are suggested.

Key Words:

• Community-based services
• rural
• African-American
• attitudes
• vulnerable populations