Conceptualizing Productive Engagement in a System Dynamics Framework

Gerontologists have argued that the growing human capital of the aging population can be better marshaled as a resource for families, communities, and society at large. Additionally, this active, purposeful engagement can produce positive outcomes for older adults themselves. In this manuscript, we propose that existing conceptual frameworks articulating antecedents and outcomes of productive engagement, including working, volunteering, and caregiving can be improved using a system dynamics (SD) approach. Through a series of five unstructured group model-building sessions, experts from gerontology and systems science developed a qualitative SD model of the productive engagement of older adults. The model illustrates the reciprocal and dynamic nature of the stocks of human capital of older adults, social capital of older adults, and family resources; the engagement of older adults in productive activities; and the social and organizational variables that affect the flow and depletion of these stocks. Given this is the first attempt to develop a SD model for productive engagement in later life, the model is preliminary and heuristic. However, it offers a new approach to advancing theory and research on productive engagement in later life. Further, it can guide the development of mathematical models to estimate the effects of changes in any part of this system.