Community support: older adults' perceptions

The purpose of this inquiry was to determine older adults' perceptions of facilitators and barriers in their use of community support. A descriptive, exploratory design was used incorporating focus group methodology. Fifteen participants were recruited in two separate senior citizen housing complexes, 10 in one building and 5 in the second. All participants were 65 years of age and older, alert, oriented, and English speaking. Systematic content analysis of the focus groups revealed two general categories: knowledge and systems. Under each category, facilitators and barriers were identified. Knowledge facilitators included life experiences and learning from one another. A major knowledge barrier was lack of awareness. A system facilitator was caring connections. System barriers included complex connections, pseudoconnections, superficial connections, and cookie cutter connections. The data suggest the need for additional research to further clarify these facilitators and barriers. The information obtained from this research will be a beginning step in the development of supportive intervention strategies for assisting older adults as they live in their home communities.