Senior Centers and Older Adults' Health Outcomes

项目概要/摘要 随着婴儿潮一代进入老年， 成年晚期到2030年底，65岁以上的人将占美国人口的20.6%，高于2015年的10.6%。 2020年16.9%，2000年12.4%。与日益老龄化的人口形成对比的是数量有限的公共 专门为老年人提供的娱乐资源。考虑到老年人通常有充裕的空闲时间， 优质休闲参与有助于健康老龄化，迫切需要提供有效的休闲 健康老龄化的服务和计划基于严格的研究。老年中心代表了一个重要的 为老年人提供公共和负担得起的休闲选择。通过提供多样化的娱乐和健康老年人中心有潜力提高老年人的健康和福祉。 然而，关于老年中心对老年人健康的影响的研究仍然很少。 美国的此外，关于如何设计物理（例如， 设施）和社交（例如，计划，人员配置）环境，以有效地促进健康 衰老因此，我们建议研究老年中心的使用对老年人健康的影响，以及如何 老年中心的物理和社会环境属性会随着时间的推移影响老年人的健康结果。的 具体目标是：1）描述老年中心的物理和社会环境属性的变化， 随着时间的推移，与社区一级社会经济地位的关系; 2）评估老年人之间的关联 不同年龄组的中心感知、使用和老年人的身心健康随时间的变化（≤74 vs. ≥75）和性别; 3）确定优化健康的特定物理和社会环境属性 不同年龄组（≤74 vs. ≥75）和性别的结局。研究目标将通过两波 面板数据收集使用调查和实地观察在大约20个不同的高级中心， 南加州。每个中心将对大约75名用户进行抽样（即，共有1,500名用户）。的 研究结果将为老年中心对健康老龄化的影响提供重要的经验证据 以及与老龄化有关的资源方面的潜在差距，以协助制定与老龄化有关的政策和决策。 此外，这项研究将提供直接影响公园和娱乐和公共卫生机构如何 设计和优化老年中心的设施和项目/服务，以实现最佳健康 老年人的结果。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The American population is aging at an accelerated pace as the baby boomer generation enters into late adulthood. By the end of 2030, individuals aged 65+ will account for 20.6% of U.S. population, up from 16.9% in 2020 and 12.4% in 2000. In contrast to the growing aging population is a limited amount of public recreational resources dedicated to older adults. Given that older adults usually have abundant free time and quality leisure engagement contributes to healthy aging, there is an urgent need to provide effective leisure services and programs for healthy aging based on rigorous research. Senior centers represent an important public and affordable leisure option for older adults. Through a diverse offering of recreational and healthrelated programs, senior centers have the potential to enhance the health and well-being of older adults. However, there remains a scarcity of research on the impact of senior center on older adults’ health in the United States. Additionally, there are limited scientific guidelines on how to design the physical (e.g., amenities) and social (e.g., programs, staffing) environments at senior centers to effectively promote healthy aging. Therefore, we propose to examine the impact of senior center use on older adults’ health and how senior center’s physical and social environmental attributes affect older adults’ health outcomes over time. The specific aims are: 1) To describe the variation in senior centers’ physical and social environmental attributes in relation to community-level socioeconomic status over time; 2) To assess the association between senior center perception, use, and older adults’ physical and mental health over time for different age groups (≤74 vs. ≥75) and genders; 3) To identify the specific physical and social environmental attributes that optimize health outcomes for different age groups (≤74 vs. ≥75) and genders. The study aims will be addressed by 2 waves of panel data collected using surveys and field observation at approximately 20 diverse senior centers in Southern California. Approximately 75 users will be sampled at each center (i.e., a total of 1,500 users). The study finding will provide important empirical evidence regarding the impact of senior centers on healthy aging and potential disparities in aging-related resources to assist in policy and decision making related to aging. Furthermore, this study will offer direct implications to parks and recreation and public health agencies on how to design and optimize the amenities and programs/services at senior centers to achieve optimal health outcomes for older adults.