Abstract
This guidebook is dedicated to all service coordinators of affordable senior housing. It is the result of 2 years of research supported by the Ameri-Corps VISTA program with input from seniors of Satellite Housing and input from Satellite Service and activities coordinators. Satellite Housing, Inc, is a nonprofit development agency that provides affordable, service-enriched housing to low-income seniors.
Patricia Osage is the Director of Resident Services at Satellite Housing in Berkeley, California. She has worked for more than 22 years in various human services and self-published in 2010 the guide titled Reach Out! Preventing and Alleviating Social Isolation Among Seniors, which was the precursor to this book. Her goal in writing this new guide is to help service and activity coordinators work with seniors to assist them to successfully age in place and thrive in their communities.
This book answers the questions used in focus groups: “Do you see certain types of people in isolation?” “Why do you think they are (or you) become isolated?” “What have you tried that was successful in reaching them?” “What would help you?” “How can we prevent isolation and its impact in our housing communities?” The results of those questions showed that “active seniors” were more content and hopeful than “isolated seniors” who were generally not hopeful and more discontented. The answers to those questions are the core content of the book. Some of the most recurring issues found in the research were the following: The Zen of Working with the Socially Isolated, Health and Disabilities, Emotional Health, Substance Abuse, Intimate Partnerships, Language and Culture, and Friendships and Pets. Each topic has a section of introductory information, a highlighted “Key Concept” section, and a “How To Help” section. Near the end of the book, Patricia Osage and Mary McCall list “Three Final Concepts to Keep in Mind”: (1) Be Persistent and Diligent; (2) Give Seniors Every Opportunity to Gain and Expand Their Senses of Purpose and Control; and (3) Good Marketing and Participatory Planning Are Key to Successful Wellness Programs.
My father lived to the age of 97 years with a mixture of multiple sclerosis at age 47 years and then Alzheimer’s disease at age 90 years. He lived at home alone after my mother died and then spent 4 years in assisted living environments and finally hospice. He was an “isolated” senior on Medicaid at an assisted living community and then in an Alzheimer’s unit. He was isolated not because he was not social, but because he was not interested in anything available to him. He was dependent on me, an only child who was working full-time and taking care of her ill husband. How I wish this book would have been available at that time! The content, when implemented, would have enriched his life as well as my husband’s and mine.
If I were a service provider for seniors living in a community setting, this book would be well-read and then on the shelf where my books are labeled “Read Again in Six Months.”