Activity Preferences of Community-Residing Aged as a Guide for Practice Emphases

Through the use of a highly structured, pretested questionnaire and an area probability sample of 257 male and female community residing aged, this research details preferences for social participation in four spheres of activity: family, friends, organizations, and work. The findings were analyzed for their relevance to practice considerations. These data indicate a low preference for organizational involvements, an interest in family activities, and an unusually high priority for friendship or peer associations. The lotter finding suggests that practitioners working with the aged could best serve their subtle social needs by helping them focus on developing opportunities for maintaining age-related peer contacts.