 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Erika M. Symonette, MS, Technical Assistance, Training, and Research Support, The MayaTech Corporation, 1100 Wayne Avenue Suite 900, Silver Spring, MD 20910, 301-587-1600, esymonette@mayatech.com
Social gerontologists, research scientists, and health care practitioners acknowledge the positive relationship between social activity and psychological well-being among elderly adults. Elderly adults, who visited with family and friends, volunteered with an organization, or participated in leisure activities expressed a greater life satisfaction and psychological well-being than elderly adults who were not socially active. This presentation explores the relationship between social activity and psychological well-being among African Americans ages sixty-five through ninety-five at a local Washington, D.C. church. A qualitative analysis and formative summary of a convenience sample of 26 elderly members from the Saint Paul African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church congregation were self-selected, agreeing to participate in the social activity and psychological well-being study. A series of four social activities were conducted over a two-week period; the elderly participants were invited to attend the four social activities. The social activities sponsored by and offered at the church included a gospel concert, prayer breakfast, African art exhibit and cultural food tasting, seated bending and stretching exercises and health information lecture. It was hypothesized that elderly adults who participated in the social activities would show a significant difference in pretest and posttest scores. Preliminary analysis indicates partial support for this hypothesis. Social activity appears to be effective in significantly increasing psychological well-being for this population. Exploring the relationship between social activity and psychological well-being will help gerontologists advance research and design interventions that focus on African American elderly and other minority populations.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Aging, African American
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.