Effectiveness of a Service Workers' Action Team (SWAT) for the elderly

The Service Workers Action Team (SWAT) is a three-year, community-based demonstration project for the elderly, with the primary goal of improving or maintaining psychosocial and physical functioning. With baseline scores and selected demography data os covariates, 243 experimental SWAT recipients were compared (MANOVA) with 158 controls after six months, with respect to: 1) Hopkin's Symptom Checklist, 2) Social Participation Scale, 3) Life Satisfaction Scale, 4) Self-Esteem Scale, 5) Activities of Daily Living, and 6) four selected health-related questions. The frequency of responses for the experimental elderly were computed for program satisfaction at the time of follow-up. In terms of psychosocial functioning, the experimental group fared significantly better at six months than did the control group. In terms of health, both groups declined in functional status, as evidenced by their scores on Activities of Daily Living, though the experimental subjects still were significantly better than the controls. The majority of the experimental group found the program to be helpful, with suggestions made for program expansion.