Ch.11, Social Participation Flashcards
Civic engagement
“Civic engagement encompasses volunteering on behalf of formal organizations, including schools, churches, hospitals, and non-profit organiza- tions; political participation; as well as informal acts such as helping friends, neighbours, and relatives.”
Civic engagement, like the broader concept of social participation, benefits the individual in terms of activity and integration; the person or people who are being helped; and society at large by giving back to it and shaping its future.
WHO Definition of Active Aging
The World Health Organization has adopted the term active aging as an ideal objective for middle-aged and older adults. This ideal lifestyle involves optimizing opportunities for health, social participa- tion, and security in order to enhance the quality of life as people age
Involves finding meaning and purpose in how time is spent, especially in the retirement years.
Define the features of social networks
Social networks are typically described in terms of type (family, friendship, work, etc.)
Size (number in the network)
Heterogeneity (diversity of members), composition (number in each type)
Density (the degree to which individuals or groups in a network interact with one another)
Who do social networks include?
Networks include those with whom we do not live but with whom we maintain personal relations
Core group and transitory group in social networkers
involve a relatively permanent core group (the immediate and extended family) and more transitory extended groups (friends, co-workers, neighbours).
“Convoy of support”
“Convoy of support” core group that surrounds the individual and is available across the life course in times of need; presence of a convoy does guarantee that interaction will occur, that support is available, or that all ties will be supportive
Two types of loneliness
emotional, when an intimate partner or a friend is absent; and social, when a broad network of friends is not present.
Define social isolation
an objective evaluation of the situation people face when they perceive that their network of social relationships is small or has decreased significantly and that they lack relationships with other people
Three issues of concern to older volunteers:
(1) clients are becoming more difficult to serve, more demanding, more needy, and more dependent; (2) volunteers are increasingly concerned about their safety and well-being; and (3) as a consequence of the first two issues, which make volunteering less appealing, there is high turnover, and volunteers are in short supply for this expanding service sector.
