A network model for the organization of the elderly for self-help and the development of leadership is described. While more research is needed to determine which variables are associated with degrees of willingness to participate in organizations and to help needy peers, the relatively flexible network model described is recommended as the most appropriate for those concerned with organizing all types of elderly, even if only minimally, on a large scale, for a sustained period of time.
A Network Model for Leadership Development Among the Elderly1 Julio L. Ruffini, PhD, and Harry F. Todd, Jr., PhD2
The broad rubric of social organization of the elderly has received a great deal of attention from social gerontologists. Generally, it has been argued that the elderly are relatively isolated in terms of membership and participation in organizations, and have relatively restricted social networks (cf. Cutler, 1977). Cerontologists concern themselves with ways to organize the elderly for a variety of reasons: to inform them of available resources; to enable them, through the strength obtained in numbers, to demand increased services; to improve the quality of their lives through the comfort, satisfaction, and support obtained by membership in groups and social networks. Within this broad organizational context, some gerontologists seek to foster self-help by locating and developing leadership among the elderly so that elderly volunteers can help those of their peers who need help in obtaining a variety of services. Often these efforts encounter considerable difficulties (Blonsky, 1973, 1974). It is not possible to state with certainty why some efforts to develop leadership and self-help for the elderly fail while others succeed. We would, however, like to describe an organizational model for the elderly which we feel offers possibilities for success in involving large numbers of elderly living in dispersed urban settings — that is, the majority of U.S. elderly.
'We became familiar with the Senior Block Information Service (discussed in this paper) during a study of the legal behavior of the elderly, funded by NSF Grant #SOC76-11309 and NIMH Crant#1 R01 MH28823; we are now engaged in a study of SBIS, funded by NIMH Grant #1 R01 MH30836. 'Medical Anthropology Program, Univ. of California, 1320 Third Ave., San Francisco, CA 94143.
The Senior Block Information Service (SBIS)
SBIS, an innovative outreach organizational effort, is located in the Sunset and Richmond Districts of San Francisco. These large districts, on the western part of the city bordering the Pacific Ocean, were, until recently, almost exclusively white. In the last few years many Asian families have moved in, but the large elderly population (in the Sunset District, 17,029 out of a total population of 103,423) remains largely white. The Sunset District, where SBIS is most active, comprises approximately 500 square blocks of a largely flat area, with wide streets laid out in a grid pattern. Dwellings in this residential district are largely single family homes (70%), interspersed with multiple dwelling units (Duffy et al., 1973). While many elderly live in a few large apartment buildings, most own their own homes, bravely maintaining their middle-class positions in the face of inflation. While the elderly constitute a large segment of the population (three of the Sunset District's 11 census tracts have from 21-23% elderly) (Duffy et al., 1973), they are not concentrated in small pockets, but are dispersed among younger populations. SBIS is one component of an array of programs for the elderly operated by the Services to Seniors of the San Francisco Council of Churches, contracting agency for geriatric services for Community Mental Health District V, in which the Sunset and Richmond Districts are located. SBIS is funded by the Council of Churches and by the local Area Agency for the Aged, which has, until recently, printed the organization's monthly newsletter.
158
The Gerontologist
The goals of SBIS are: (1) to provide information and referral services for the elderly through a monthly newsletter, monthly meetings with guest speakers, staff visits to various sites, via telephone, and door-to-door community outreach; (2) to encourage increased interaction among the aged by developing new, or by building upon existing, block-based social networks, utilizing the services of elderly volunteers; and (3) to provide the structure for development of leadership and self-help among the elderly. These goals are addressed through recruitment of elderly volunteers whose duty it is to canvass the particular blocks which they volunteer to serve (usually the one on which they reside and/or adjacent blocks); to compile a list of all persons aged 60 and over on their blocks; and to assume responsibility for the distribution of the monthly newsletter to these individuals. While distributing the newsletters, the volunteers may engage in conversation with each elderly person on the block, providing information and referrals to help in problem-solving. Problems which the volunteers are unable to handle themselves can be referred to the staff. These volunteers are viewed by staff as potential leaders of social networks on the blocks and as "middle-men," mediating between the elderly community and SBIS staff and the community of service providers to which the staff has access. The small staff, augmented from time to time by college students fulfilling field service requirements, has a number of duties: to obtain information for the monthly newsletter ^nd for information and referral services by telephone; to organize monthly meetings featuring speakers on a wide range of subjects of concern to the elderly; to organize special functions such as the popular annual health fair (with displays and booths from many health and social service organizations), the annual Christmas Party, luncheons, and picnics for volunteers; to assist the elderly with the paper work necessary to obtain rent assistance and property tax refunds; and to recruit elderly volunteers by door-to-door canvassing and by visits to senior centers, nutrition sites, and other places where the elderly are gathered together. SBIS began in 1973 as an outreach effort to contact the elderly, whom the staff considered to be isolated and uninformed of available services. At first progress was slow, as the young volunteers were seldom able to penetrate the wall of suspicion erected by the elderly residents of the Sunset and Richmond Districts. Flyers
Vol. 19, No. 2, 1979
were placed under doors and distributed on the streets, however, providing information and calling for elderly volunteers who could breach that wall. Gradually the one-page flyer evolved into an eight-page monthly newsletter, and the initial cadre of 30 elderly volunteers grew to over 300 at the time of the first draft of this paper (the figure is now 400). These volunteers distributed approximately 6000 newsletters (now 7000) which are read by an estimated 10,000 elderly residents of the Sunset and Richmond Districts. Indeed, the staff is certain that the number of volunteers and recipients of the newsletter could easily be greatly increased without augmenting staff size. Until quite recently, however, there were funds for only 6000 copies of the newsletter. Now, with more funds available, 10,000 copies can be printed, and the staff plans outreach efforts to enroll more volunteers. We view SBIS, then, as a relative success, with potential for even greater success, as measured by the large and ever-increasing number of volunteers, the large readership of the SBIS newsletter, the high attendance at SBIS functions, the statements of satisfaction on the part of volunteers and newsletter recipients, and the extent of the use of SBIS by other community agencies and service providers. A fuller description of SBIS is provided by the authors in a forthcoming volume based on a conference entitled, "Community Housing Choices for Older Americans," at the Philadelphia Geriatric Center, April 4-6, 1978. SBIS: A Model for Organizing the Elderly?
One feature which we consider to be of major importance in the ability of SBIS in recruiting and keeping large numbers of elderly volunteers is that the volunteers have relatively modest and limited duties, which they are able to manage easily: At the most they are called upon to help only their neighbors, and only when there is a need for them to help. It is possible, incidentally, that such support, from neighbors in time of need, would obviate the increased dependency on formal social services noted by Blonsky (1973). Another salient feature of SBIS is the function of its monthly newsletter. While other organizations have newsletters, whose functions are primarily informational, they are typically mailed (Blonsky, 1973), or distributed in bulk at various central locations. Significantly, the SBIS newsletter is delivered to the homes of the elderly recipients by the elderly volunteers. The hope is that the act of
159
personal delivery and receipt of the newsletter will create or strengthen social ties among the elderly. It has always been the explicit policy of SBIS to use the newsletter as an instrument in creating and maintaining social networks on a block basis and in developing leadership. For this reason, very few newsletters are mailed, and, while presently a deliberately restricted amount of bulk packets are deposited at churches, libraries, and nutrition sites, originally this practice of bulk deposit at sites where the elderly congregate had been opposed, as the intent had been for elderly volunteers to deliver personally each newsletter to individual recipients. We argue that a major strength of SBIS is that it is decentralized and flexible. A person who volunteers can decide to do as much as he or she desires, continually, or during any given period of time. Volunteers are allowed to participate to the extent that they fee! comfortable; consequently, there exists a range or continuum of possible volunteer and organizational efforts. At the extreme end of participation in the overall organization is the person who merely receives the newsletter. Considering the literature on the unwillingness of elderly in this country to affirm that they are indeed old (Rosow, 1974), however, we regard even the acceptance of the monthly newsletter itself as a significant symbolic statement. Also, from a willingness to admit that one is old may emerge a greater wil Iingness to help needy elderly peers. For the volunteers themselves, there is considerable latitude in regard to extent of participation. A volunteer may participate minimally, delivering five or so newsletters to friends or elderly on his or her block, and not attend monthly meetings or participate in any other way. Some volunteers, however, distribute many newsletters: One woman, active on all levels, distributes over 100 newsletters each month. Other volunteers distribute newsletters and talk to recipients, asking if they have problems and helping directly themselves or referring them to SBIS staff. As one staff member expressed it, "For example, recently there were three people on one block who had problems, and that block had a volunteer who was a very neighborly person, knew all three, so she was able to help them by finding solutions through us. We couldn't go to these people ourselves, but we provided information to the volunteer, and then she gave it to these people." Volunteers often encourage their neighbors to accompany them to monthly meetings and
social functions. One volunteer stated that her neighbors often ask to go to the monthly meetings with her, because, "You see, people are afraid to go to things alone." Some volunteers actively intercede on the behalf of newsletter recipients and help them with a wide array of problems. "They call me sometimes and ask me to explain certain things, and then I have to really study it out and find more or refer them where to go. They think I'm supposed to be knowledgeable in all that." Other volunteers actively assist staff at functions and in collating, stapling, addressing, and distributing the newsletter to the volunteers. In our interviews with a large number of SBIS volunteers, as part of a related study, we were impressed by the wide differences in types of personality, background, and outlook of these volunteers. They were, in short, a highly heterogeneous group of people. The ability of SBIS to attract such disparate people is, we believe, its principal strength. We feel that it is too much to expect many elderly to become, in effect, volunteer social workers, helping strangers in a concerted way, appearing at the office each day, and visiting the homes of people in need each day. It is reasonable, however, to expect that a large number of elderly will be committed enough to serve as block volunteers, to help their neighbors and friends (often newly created), and even to seek out the isolates on their blocks or in their apartment buildings. The community action model of organization, which has been attempted elsewhere (Blonsky, 1973, 1974), works only for a relatively few active people, or during a crisis. The network model, as represented by SBIS, works for a range of people, thus for far more of them, and continually. Furthermore, it provides a latent structure that may be activated when necessary to mobilize large numbers in a crisis. Consequently, the potential for concerted action in situations wherein it has been posited (Blonsky, 1974) that large numbers of elderly would participate (when the issues are concrete and specific, important to the elderly person, and affect him or her personally) is built into the SBIS structure, ready to be mobilized at the appropriate time. SBIS also provides the basis, and acts as a catalyst, for creation of social networks, for those who wish them. Elders who are usually not willing to make long-term commitments to on-going organizations with multi-purpose goals, may, as recipients of the newsletter, come together
160
The Gerontologist
for limited ends when necessary or desired, oscillating between organizational activity on the one hand, and self-chosen isolation or resort to family and other friendship networks on the other hand. For those elderly seeki ng new friends and activities, SBIS offers a myriad of opportunities to meet others with similar goals. As one such woman expressed it, "A lot of people don't go out, or they don't trust anybody, or so forth. So that way (through SBIS) they come together and perhaps they can make friendships with another couple or person and that gives them a little bit to hold on to — and they think — otherwise they get senile." For this kind of elderly population (possibly similar to the majority of urban elderly), which our research has shown values independence, and is politically conservative and socially diffident, SBIS probably represents the most functional and adaptive organizational model. The SBIS model may be congenial to middle-class elderly who desire a minimum of interaction, feel uneasy in community action activities, and prefer dyadic or network social relations. Members (newsletter recipients) can be very passive when they want to, merely reading the newsletter each month. When they want services they can call upon the volunteers or SBIS staff or attend meetings. The same kind of latitude applies to the volunteers. The very flexibility and decentralization which are the strengths of SBIS are, of course, also the sources of its weaknesses. With over 400 volunteers participating at different levels, there is no guarantee of uniformity of services. This lack of perfection and consistency is a familiar and expected feature of our pluralistic society. Nevertheless, those elderly who have even relatively inactive volunteers are able to read the newsletter, seek assistance from SBIS staff, and participate in SBIS activities, options which are unavailable to most elderly who do not receive the newsletter. Thus, while not all recipients of the newsletter receive equal service from SBIS volunteers, all may fare better than people unaware of SBIS. We shall soon be analyzing data from interviews with a random sample of over 400 elderly residents of the Sunset District as part of a related study. These interviews contained questions concerning knowledge of SBIS, receipt of its newsletter, and use of SBIS services. These data should shed light on the impact of SBIS upon its target population. SBIS, then, is not a model for encouraging the elderly to participate more in self-help activities.
Vol. 19, No. 2, 1979
Rather, it is a low-budget model to encourage more elderly to participate at least at a minimal level, and to lay the groundwork and provide the structure for increased commitment for those who wish it. While the SBIS network model is relatively modest in terms of how much leadership is expected of elderly volunteers, it is ambitious in terms of how many leadership roles it attempts to create. It is even possible, of course, that the development of individual leadership is not the best or only organizational goal. If the characteristics of leadership are willingness and ability to mobilize others to act to achieve a goal, a strong social network may accomplish the same as a strong individual leader. Such leadership qualities inhere not only in some kinds of people; they may also inhere in a network of people, whose individual displays of leadership may be minimal and shift from person to person in different situations.
Implications for Planning
More research is needed to determine which variables (e.g., socioeconomic, degree of social embeddedness, relative age) are associated with different levels of participation in self-help organizational efforts. We shall soon be interviewing SBIS volunteers in an effort to shed some light on this question. Such research should then allow us to demonstrate which kinds of people are more likely to be active volunteers; which are likely to be relatively passive; and which elderly may be predicted to be best suited for different kinds or degrees of social activity. Such findings would be of value to planners who wish to recruit certain kinds of volunteers (very active, for example), but do not know which variables are associated with desired volunteer traits, and do not, therefore, know where to recruit; and to planners who have to work with a certain kind of population and wish to know what kinds of organizations would be most appropriate for their particular populations. In the meantime, however, if the goal is to develop a program suitable for all kinds of elderly, in which all are as active as they find comfortable, if, in short, the goal is to organize the elderly on a large scale and over a sustained period of time, a network model along the dimensions of SBIS (modified, of course, for different settings, such as neighborhoods characterized by apartment buildings or hotels), would appear to offer the greatest promise of success.
161
Program and Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute Blonsky, L. E. An innovative service for the elderly. Ceron(Univ. of California, San Francisco) and District V Mental tologist, 1973, 13, 189-196. Health Ctr., (San Francisco), Program Information Series, 4 (4), San Francisco, 1973. Blonsky, L. E. Problems in development of a community action program for the elderly. Cerontologist, 1974, 14, Rosow, I. Socialization to old age. Univ. of California Press, 394-401. Berkeley, 1974. Cutler, S. j . Aging and voluntary association participation. Ruffini, J. L, & Todd, H. F. Passing it on. The Senior Block Journal of Gerontology, 1977, 32, 470-479. Information Service of San Francisco. Paper written for a conference on Community Housing Choices for Older Duffy, J., Attkisson, C , Ablon, J., & Harris, M. Health District Americans, at the Philadelphia Geriatric Ctr., April 4-6, V of San Francisco: A comparative study of 1960 and 1978. 1970 census data. Community Mental Health Training References
1979 AUGUST 5, 6, 7 HILTON - AT - THE - CIRCLE
NICA Conference on
AGING, SPIRITUAL WELL - BEING &
Indianapolis, IN.
E D U C A T I O N : Innovative Models for Gerontological Training of Clergy & Lay Leaders
A national dissemination conference designed to be of interest to religious and secular educators, administrators and professionals who uish to explore in-depth the spiritual well-being aspects of aging education/ training: andragogicallv-based competency to teach gerontology in seminaries and continuing education formats for clergy, or curncular modification and development to include gerontology. (CE units available on request for a small, additional fee.)
KEVNOTi ADDRESS "Aging. Spiritual Well-being and the Educational Task of the Religious Sector." SPECIAL PRESENTATION Interfaith Statement on Competencies to Teach Cerontology in Seminaries and Other Religious Settings NICA EDUCATION & RESEARCH COMMITTEE A. Ray Applequist Wayne Lindecker lames Montgomery C. William Sheek Sanford Shapero Andrew White Mary E. Verner ThomasC. Cook. )r
Fifty or more model approaches to aging education, appropriate for training seminary students, clergy and lay leaders, will be presented in concurrent sessions, including question-answer periods. The presenters, participants in Project-GIST (Gerontology in Seminary Training), a 1977-79 Title IV- A Older Americans Act training grant, through the Administration on Aging, represent the ten Federal regions; major Judeo-Christian traditions, including 24 denominations; and 39 seminaries and schools of theology nationwide. Each presentation will include the design, implementation and results ol individual competency-based educational impact projects contracted between GIST participants and NICA during the 1978 week-long workshops in Cincinnati, Denver and Richmond. Projects include 27 workshops for clergy and lay leaders; 18 new courses; 14 revised courses; 3 books; and 1 denominational position paper on aging. A number of the models will exhibit andragogical design. Each project will reflect the unique and essential place of spiritual well-being in gerontological education — a primary concern of NICA member and affiliate organizations.
NATIONAL ADVISORS AND CIST FACULTY Willis Atwell Dan Blazer, M D Elbert Cole Clinton Hess Bruce Horacek Reuel Howe Mary Kay lernigan Robert Kahn losephine Kyles Thomas W. Mahler Paul B. Maves David O. Moberg Charles D. Phillips Sam Scott. M.D lohn Stettner lames Thorson Barbara Ann Zeller lesse Ziegler
For registration materials, including a list of the CIST pafticipanti/presenten, write: NICA/ASE Conf., or call Donna I . McGinty, Conference Coordinator, or Thomas C. Cook, |r.. Executive Director, (4O4| 353-1332.
NATIONAL INTERFAITH COALITION ON AGING, Inc.- P.O. Box 1924, Athens, GA. 30603-[404]353-1331 in cooperation with the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education - Athens
162
The Gerontologist
A Network Model for Leadership Development Among the Elderly1 Julio L. Ruffini, PhD, and Harry F. Todd, Jr., PhD2
The broad rubric of social organization of the elderly has received a great deal of attention from social gerontologists. Generally, it has been argued that the elderly are relatively isolated in terms of membership and participation in organizations, and have relatively restricted social networks (cf. Cutler, 1977). Cerontologists concern themselves with ways to organize the elderly for a variety of reasons: to inform them of available resources; to enable them, through the strength obtained in numbers, to demand increased services; to improve the quality of their lives through the comfort, satisfaction, and support obtained by membership in groups and social networks. Within this broad organizational context, some gerontologists seek to foster self-help by locating and developing leadership among the elderly so that elderly volunteers can help those of their peers who need help in obtaining a variety of services. Often these efforts encounter considerable difficulties (Blonsky, 1973, 1974). It is not possible to state with certainty why some efforts to develop leadership and self-help for the elderly fail while others succeed. We would, however, like to describe an organizational model for the elderly which we feel offers possibilities for success in involving large numbers of elderly living in dispersed urban settings — that is, the majority of U.S. elderly.
'We became familiar with the Senior Block Information Service (discussed in this paper) during a study of the legal behavior of the elderly, funded by NSF Grant #SOC76-11309 and NIMH Crant#1 R01 MH28823; we are now engaged in a study of SBIS, funded by NIMH Grant #1 R01 MH30836. 'Medical Anthropology Program, Univ. of California, 1320 Third Ave., San Francisco, CA 94143.
The Senior Block Information Service (SBIS)
SBIS, an innovative outreach organizational effort, is located in the Sunset and Richmond Districts of San Francisco. These large districts, on the western part of the city bordering the Pacific Ocean, were, until recently, almost exclusively white. In the last few years many Asian families have moved in, but the large elderly population (in the Sunset District, 17,029 out of a total population of 103,423) remains largely white. The Sunset District, where SBIS is most active, comprises approximately 500 square blocks of a largely flat area, with wide streets laid out in a grid pattern. Dwellings in this residential district are largely single family homes (70%), interspersed with multiple dwelling units (Duffy et al., 1973). While many elderly live in a few large apartment buildings, most own their own homes, bravely maintaining their middle-class positions in the face of inflation. While the elderly constitute a large segment of the population (three of the Sunset District's 11 census tracts have from 21-23% elderly) (Duffy et al., 1973), they are not concentrated in small pockets, but are dispersed among younger populations. SBIS is one component of an array of programs for the elderly operated by the Services to Seniors of the San Francisco Council of Churches, contracting agency for geriatric services for Community Mental Health District V, in which the Sunset and Richmond Districts are located. SBIS is funded by the Council of Churches and by the local Area Agency for the Aged, which has, until recently, printed the organization's monthly newsletter.
158
The Gerontologist
The goals of SBIS are: (1) to provide information and referral services for the elderly through a monthly newsletter, monthly meetings with guest speakers, staff visits to various sites, via telephone, and door-to-door community outreach; (2) to encourage increased interaction among the aged by developing new, or by building upon existing, block-based social networks, utilizing the services of elderly volunteers; and (3) to provide the structure for development of leadership and self-help among the elderly. These goals are addressed through recruitment of elderly volunteers whose duty it is to canvass the particular blocks which they volunteer to serve (usually the one on which they reside and/or adjacent blocks); to compile a list of all persons aged 60 and over on their blocks; and to assume responsibility for the distribution of the monthly newsletter to these individuals. While distributing the newsletters, the volunteers may engage in conversation with each elderly person on the block, providing information and referrals to help in problem-solving. Problems which the volunteers are unable to handle themselves can be referred to the staff. These volunteers are viewed by staff as potential leaders of social networks on the blocks and as "middle-men," mediating between the elderly community and SBIS staff and the community of service providers to which the staff has access. The small staff, augmented from time to time by college students fulfilling field service requirements, has a number of duties: to obtain information for the monthly newsletter ^nd for information and referral services by telephone; to organize monthly meetings featuring speakers on a wide range of subjects of concern to the elderly; to organize special functions such as the popular annual health fair (with displays and booths from many health and social service organizations), the annual Christmas Party, luncheons, and picnics for volunteers; to assist the elderly with the paper work necessary to obtain rent assistance and property tax refunds; and to recruit elderly volunteers by door-to-door canvassing and by visits to senior centers, nutrition sites, and other places where the elderly are gathered together. SBIS began in 1973 as an outreach effort to contact the elderly, whom the staff considered to be isolated and uninformed of available services. At first progress was slow, as the young volunteers were seldom able to penetrate the wall of suspicion erected by the elderly residents of the Sunset and Richmond Districts. Flyers
Vol. 19, No. 2, 1979
were placed under doors and distributed on the streets, however, providing information and calling for elderly volunteers who could breach that wall. Gradually the one-page flyer evolved into an eight-page monthly newsletter, and the initial cadre of 30 elderly volunteers grew to over 300 at the time of the first draft of this paper (the figure is now 400). These volunteers distributed approximately 6000 newsletters (now 7000) which are read by an estimated 10,000 elderly residents of the Sunset and Richmond Districts. Indeed, the staff is certain that the number of volunteers and recipients of the newsletter could easily be greatly increased without augmenting staff size. Until quite recently, however, there were funds for only 6000 copies of the newsletter. Now, with more funds available, 10,000 copies can be printed, and the staff plans outreach efforts to enroll more volunteers. We view SBIS, then, as a relative success, with potential for even greater success, as measured by the large and ever-increasing number of volunteers, the large readership of the SBIS newsletter, the high attendance at SBIS functions, the statements of satisfaction on the part of volunteers and newsletter recipients, and the extent of the use of SBIS by other community agencies and service providers. A fuller description of SBIS is provided by the authors in a forthcoming volume based on a conference entitled, "Community Housing Choices for Older Americans," at the Philadelphia Geriatric Center, April 4-6, 1978. SBIS: A Model for Organizing the Elderly?
One feature which we consider to be of major importance in the ability of SBIS in recruiting and keeping large numbers of elderly volunteers is that the volunteers have relatively modest and limited duties, which they are able to manage easily: At the most they are called upon to help only their neighbors, and only when there is a need for them to help. It is possible, incidentally, that such support, from neighbors in time of need, would obviate the increased dependency on formal social services noted by Blonsky (1973). Another salient feature of SBIS is the function of its monthly newsletter. While other organizations have newsletters, whose functions are primarily informational, they are typically mailed (Blonsky, 1973), or distributed in bulk at various central locations. Significantly, the SBIS newsletter is delivered to the homes of the elderly recipients by the elderly volunteers. The hope is that the act of
159
personal delivery and receipt of the newsletter will create or strengthen social ties among the elderly. It has always been the explicit policy of SBIS to use the newsletter as an instrument in creating and maintaining social networks on a block basis and in developing leadership. For this reason, very few newsletters are mailed, and, while presently a deliberately restricted amount of bulk packets are deposited at churches, libraries, and nutrition sites, originally this practice of bulk deposit at sites where the elderly congregate had been opposed, as the intent had been for elderly volunteers to deliver personally each newsletter to individual recipients. We argue that a major strength of SBIS is that it is decentralized and flexible. A person who volunteers can decide to do as much as he or she desires, continually, or during any given period of time. Volunteers are allowed to participate to the extent that they fee! comfortable; consequently, there exists a range or continuum of possible volunteer and organizational efforts. At the extreme end of participation in the overall organization is the person who merely receives the newsletter. Considering the literature on the unwillingness of elderly in this country to affirm that they are indeed old (Rosow, 1974), however, we regard even the acceptance of the monthly newsletter itself as a significant symbolic statement. Also, from a willingness to admit that one is old may emerge a greater wil Iingness to help needy elderly peers. For the volunteers themselves, there is considerable latitude in regard to extent of participation. A volunteer may participate minimally, delivering five or so newsletters to friends or elderly on his or her block, and not attend monthly meetings or participate in any other way. Some volunteers, however, distribute many newsletters: One woman, active on all levels, distributes over 100 newsletters each month. Other volunteers distribute newsletters and talk to recipients, asking if they have problems and helping directly themselves or referring them to SBIS staff. As one staff member expressed it, "For example, recently there were three people on one block who had problems, and that block had a volunteer who was a very neighborly person, knew all three, so she was able to help them by finding solutions through us. We couldn't go to these people ourselves, but we provided information to the volunteer, and then she gave it to these people." Volunteers often encourage their neighbors to accompany them to monthly meetings and
social functions. One volunteer stated that her neighbors often ask to go to the monthly meetings with her, because, "You see, people are afraid to go to things alone." Some volunteers actively intercede on the behalf of newsletter recipients and help them with a wide array of problems. "They call me sometimes and ask me to explain certain things, and then I have to really study it out and find more or refer them where to go. They think I'm supposed to be knowledgeable in all that." Other volunteers actively assist staff at functions and in collating, stapling, addressing, and distributing the newsletter to the volunteers. In our interviews with a large number of SBIS volunteers, as part of a related study, we were impressed by the wide differences in types of personality, background, and outlook of these volunteers. They were, in short, a highly heterogeneous group of people. The ability of SBIS to attract such disparate people is, we believe, its principal strength. We feel that it is too much to expect many elderly to become, in effect, volunteer social workers, helping strangers in a concerted way, appearing at the office each day, and visiting the homes of people in need each day. It is reasonable, however, to expect that a large number of elderly will be committed enough to serve as block volunteers, to help their neighbors and friends (often newly created), and even to seek out the isolates on their blocks or in their apartment buildings. The community action model of organization, which has been attempted elsewhere (Blonsky, 1973, 1974), works only for a relatively few active people, or during a crisis. The network model, as represented by SBIS, works for a range of people, thus for far more of them, and continually. Furthermore, it provides a latent structure that may be activated when necessary to mobilize large numbers in a crisis. Consequently, the potential for concerted action in situations wherein it has been posited (Blonsky, 1974) that large numbers of elderly would participate (when the issues are concrete and specific, important to the elderly person, and affect him or her personally) is built into the SBIS structure, ready to be mobilized at the appropriate time. SBIS also provides the basis, and acts as a catalyst, for creation of social networks, for those who wish them. Elders who are usually not willing to make long-term commitments to on-going organizations with multi-purpose goals, may, as recipients of the newsletter, come together
160
The Gerontologist
for limited ends when necessary or desired, oscillating between organizational activity on the one hand, and self-chosen isolation or resort to family and other friendship networks on the other hand. For those elderly seeki ng new friends and activities, SBIS offers a myriad of opportunities to meet others with similar goals. As one such woman expressed it, "A lot of people don't go out, or they don't trust anybody, or so forth. So that way (through SBIS) they come together and perhaps they can make friendships with another couple or person and that gives them a little bit to hold on to — and they think — otherwise they get senile." For this kind of elderly population (possibly similar to the majority of urban elderly), which our research has shown values independence, and is politically conservative and socially diffident, SBIS probably represents the most functional and adaptive organizational model. The SBIS model may be congenial to middle-class elderly who desire a minimum of interaction, feel uneasy in community action activities, and prefer dyadic or network social relations. Members (newsletter recipients) can be very passive when they want to, merely reading the newsletter each month. When they want services they can call upon the volunteers or SBIS staff or attend meetings. The same kind of latitude applies to the volunteers. The very flexibility and decentralization which are the strengths of SBIS are, of course, also the sources of its weaknesses. With over 400 volunteers participating at different levels, there is no guarantee of uniformity of services. This lack of perfection and consistency is a familiar and expected feature of our pluralistic society. Nevertheless, those elderly who have even relatively inactive volunteers are able to read the newsletter, seek assistance from SBIS staff, and participate in SBIS activities, options which are unavailable to most elderly who do not receive the newsletter. Thus, while not all recipients of the newsletter receive equal service from SBIS volunteers, all may fare better than people unaware of SBIS. We shall soon be analyzing data from interviews with a random sample of over 400 elderly residents of the Sunset District as part of a related study. These interviews contained questions concerning knowledge of SBIS, receipt of its newsletter, and use of SBIS services. These data should shed light on the impact of SBIS upon its target population. SBIS, then, is not a model for encouraging the elderly to participate more in self-help activities.
Vol. 19, No. 2, 1979
Rather, it is a low-budget model to encourage more elderly to participate at least at a minimal level, and to lay the groundwork and provide the structure for increased commitment for those who wish it. While the SBIS network model is relatively modest in terms of how much leadership is expected of elderly volunteers, it is ambitious in terms of how many leadership roles it attempts to create. It is even possible, of course, that the development of individual leadership is not the best or only organizational goal. If the characteristics of leadership are willingness and ability to mobilize others to act to achieve a goal, a strong social network may accomplish the same as a strong individual leader. Such leadership qualities inhere not only in some kinds of people; they may also inhere in a network of people, whose individual displays of leadership may be minimal and shift from person to person in different situations.
Implications for Planning
More research is needed to determine which variables (e.g., socioeconomic, degree of social embeddedness, relative age) are associated with different levels of participation in self-help organizational efforts. We shall soon be interviewing SBIS volunteers in an effort to shed some light on this question. Such research should then allow us to demonstrate which kinds of people are more likely to be active volunteers; which are likely to be relatively passive; and which elderly may be predicted to be best suited for different kinds or degrees of social activity. Such findings would be of value to planners who wish to recruit certain kinds of volunteers (very active, for example), but do not know which variables are associated with desired volunteer traits, and do not, therefore, know where to recruit; and to planners who have to work with a certain kind of population and wish to know what kinds of organizations would be most appropriate for their particular populations. In the meantime, however, if the goal is to develop a program suitable for all kinds of elderly, in which all are as active as they find comfortable, if, in short, the goal is to organize the elderly on a large scale and over a sustained period of time, a network model along the dimensions of SBIS (modified, of course, for different settings, such as neighborhoods characterized by apartment buildings or hotels), would appear to offer the greatest promise of success.
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Program and Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute Blonsky, L. E. An innovative service for the elderly. Ceron(Univ. of California, San Francisco) and District V Mental tologist, 1973, 13, 189-196. Health Ctr., (San Francisco), Program Information Series, 4 (4), San Francisco, 1973. Blonsky, L. E. Problems in development of a community action program for the elderly. Cerontologist, 1974, 14, Rosow, I. Socialization to old age. Univ. of California Press, 394-401. Berkeley, 1974. Cutler, S. j . Aging and voluntary association participation. Ruffini, J. L, & Todd, H. F. Passing it on. The Senior Block Journal of Gerontology, 1977, 32, 470-479. Information Service of San Francisco. Paper written for a conference on Community Housing Choices for Older Duffy, J., Attkisson, C , Ablon, J., & Harris, M. Health District Americans, at the Philadelphia Geriatric Ctr., April 4-6, V of San Francisco: A comparative study of 1960 and 1978. 1970 census data. Community Mental Health Training References
1979 AUGUST 5, 6, 7 HILTON - AT - THE - CIRCLE
NICA Conference on
AGING, SPIRITUAL WELL - BEING &
Indianapolis, IN.
E D U C A T I O N : Innovative Models for Gerontological Training of Clergy & Lay Leaders
A national dissemination conference designed to be of interest to religious and secular educators, administrators and professionals who uish to explore in-depth the spiritual well-being aspects of aging education/ training: andragogicallv-based competency to teach gerontology in seminaries and continuing education formats for clergy, or curncular modification and development to include gerontology. (CE units available on request for a small, additional fee.)
KEVNOTi ADDRESS "Aging. Spiritual Well-being and the Educational Task of the Religious Sector." SPECIAL PRESENTATION Interfaith Statement on Competencies to Teach Cerontology in Seminaries and Other Religious Settings NICA EDUCATION & RESEARCH COMMITTEE A. Ray Applequist Wayne Lindecker lames Montgomery C. William Sheek Sanford Shapero Andrew White Mary E. Verner ThomasC. Cook. )r
Fifty or more model approaches to aging education, appropriate for training seminary students, clergy and lay leaders, will be presented in concurrent sessions, including question-answer periods. The presenters, participants in Project-GIST (Gerontology in Seminary Training), a 1977-79 Title IV- A Older Americans Act training grant, through the Administration on Aging, represent the ten Federal regions; major Judeo-Christian traditions, including 24 denominations; and 39 seminaries and schools of theology nationwide. Each presentation will include the design, implementation and results ol individual competency-based educational impact projects contracted between GIST participants and NICA during the 1978 week-long workshops in Cincinnati, Denver and Richmond. Projects include 27 workshops for clergy and lay leaders; 18 new courses; 14 revised courses; 3 books; and 1 denominational position paper on aging. A number of the models will exhibit andragogical design. Each project will reflect the unique and essential place of spiritual well-being in gerontological education — a primary concern of NICA member and affiliate organizations.
NATIONAL ADVISORS AND CIST FACULTY Willis Atwell Dan Blazer, M D Elbert Cole Clinton Hess Bruce Horacek Reuel Howe Mary Kay lernigan Robert Kahn losephine Kyles Thomas W. Mahler Paul B. Maves David O. Moberg Charles D. Phillips Sam Scott. M.D lohn Stettner lames Thorson Barbara Ann Zeller lesse Ziegler
For registration materials, including a list of the CIST pafticipanti/presenten, write: NICA/ASE Conf., or call Donna I . McGinty, Conference Coordinator, or Thomas C. Cook, |r.. Executive Director, (4O4| 353-1332.
NATIONAL INTERFAITH COALITION ON AGING, Inc.- P.O. Box 1924, Athens, GA. 30603-[404]353-1331 in cooperation with the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education - Athens
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The Gerontologist
