Civil engagement
By civil engagement, we mean collective actions of individuals that specifically identify and deal with issues concerning the public. This includes taking part in community events, voting, social activism, religious activities, political lobbying, campaigning, and involvement, helping the neighbors, and voluntary and paid community work.
It has been observed that older Americans also desire to be actively engaged in community work and want enhanced socioeconomic statuses than earlier generations due to their better education and pension plans. However, most of the older people are restricted to activities like formal volunteering, where assistance is provided through charitable or religious organizations. The factors that motivate the senior volunteers are mainly social values, civic obligations, and service provisions, to feel productive and useful, need to help others, and fulfill moral responsibilities. Their voluntary work is often reasoned as giving back and reciprocating to the community, gradually expanding the view such that it has become a long-lasting and substantial benefit for a community.
Discussion on civil engagement by senior citizens and the aging issue
Recent surveys have shown that almost entirely the increase in volunteering is due to people aged 60 or more. In the USA, 35% and 45% of retired men and women, respectively, volunteer for various community services. This is among the higher rates of volunteerism than other groups. In 2003–2004, 634000 volunteers of the National Senior Services Corps aged 60 and older have provided 171 million hours of services. Almost half of the voluntary works performed by senior citizens are for churches and church-related organizations, synagogues and nursing homes, and hospitals. Housings come second. The responsibilities undertaken by them are ––– 29% coach, advice and tutor, 27% work using their hands, 16% help in fundraising, 11% serve on the committees and boards, 10% work in offices, and 8% drive a van or car.
There are various social, economic, and personal benefits of civic engagement. Organizations are provided with reliable and experienced workers at low costs and the senior volunteers have enabled them to maximize their financial resources. An estimation done by the 2002 National Health and Retirement Study on the economic value of social capital activities and formal volunteering made by the senior people revealed that they donated almost $44.5 billion. If we focus on the social perspective, the work of these senior volunteers is important for our social economy as it covers a huge range of non-profit, voluntary, and community activities. The social values and capital that are spread through volunteering also integrate and connect the various age groups in our society. In 2008, Leonard and Johansson declared that civic engagement through formal volunteering has many favorable outcomes, like decreasing crime, increasing productivity and economic development, and reduction in several school dropouts.
Other than improving our social economy, civic engagements also encourage citizenship participation by giving the senior volunteers significant social roles. It revitalizes civic life by giving opportunities to the senior citizens to fulfill their responsibility as a citizen. Thus, even the government considers volunteering to be not just a mere service but also a fundamental unit of our civic society and as an activity that increments social capital and gives the senior citizens self-esteem and confidence. Social participation and integration also play an important role in personal well-being later in their life. Their voluntary work has been promoted by both public and private initiatives to be productive, as it not only benefits them but also our society.
Social science research organizations after exploring the benefits attained by the senior citizens due to volunteering have established that it goes beyond simply making them feel good about their work. It helps them to stay healthy and fit, sometimes even prolonging their lives. These organizations have also confirmed that volunteering not only decreases psychological distress and depression levels but also increases satisfaction, happiness, self-esteem, and self-efficiency in one’s life, which are indicators of psychological welfare. The senior volunteers feel happy and satisfied from increasing their social circle, increasing their self-capacity thus, promoting positive and improved coping behaviors and strategies in them. Hence, volunteering works as a significant factor in helping senior citizens to maintain some form of controlling power in their life.
In 2000, Van Willigen also found that senior volunteers gave more importance to their voluntary work thus, increasing their satisfaction and capacity than young volunteers. This is also confirmed by the idea of role enhancement where volunteering allows the senior volunteers to obtain positive individuality increasing social and psychological prestige, power and resources, and functioning level. After examining the relation between objective health outcomes, like their medical state, mortality rate, IADLs and ADLs, and volunteering, it has been established that volunteering decreases functional difficulties, mortality rates, and physical disabilities among senior people. Thus, civic engagement activities by the older people are required to establish a productive society and to improve their health.
Shortly, the first group of baby boomers will be preparing for their retirement. Thus, it is not only expected of them to become involved in civic engagements but rather they should get involved with the activities. However this expectation, which may be due to health benefits or requirements of volunteers for filling gaps produced by a decrease in government funding, can harm some senior citizens who either do not want to or cannot be involved in the civil engagements because of care-giving burdens, health problems or financial requirements. However, the most important factors obstructing the civic engagement of senior citizens are the medical and health issues of either the individual or a family member. Several senior citizens are not able to perform civic engagements due to their own deteriorating mental and physical health. This is mainly seen in rural areas having inadequate public transportation. An increasing number of people even have to assume the role of caregivers later in their lives. A huge number of senior citizens sometimes feel financially accountable for their children who are not financially sound. These factors limit an individual’s capability to accept the social responsibilities of civic engagement.
Promotion of civic engagement for the older generation is important, as the present baby boomers, corresponding to the New Age will be a significant resource in our future for their huge number, skills, and experiences, and available leisure time and income. After their retirement, they can pursue a healthy and productive lifestyle by balancing their leisure activities and voluntary work. However, older people with lower income, ethnic minority groups, and those with a lack of physical abilities, independence, and resources are less occupied with these civic engagements. Some older people need to continue working, part-time or full-time, due to financial responsibilities and thus, cannot commit to voluntary work. They have been categorized as the working poor who live below the poverty line and are mainly ethnic minorities or single-aged women. Civic engagement becomes a secondary choice for them when placed beside survival. Opportunities need to be created for them as civic engagements have numerous psychological, social, and health benefits, and even our society benefits through their contribution. Such segregation arises because of the limitation in the definition given for civic engagement that only focuses on volunteering activities instead of treating the concept in a multidimensional and extensive manner. If civic engagement is only limited to formal volunteering then other activities, like taking part in community events, voting, social activism, religious activities, and so on, are completely ignored. Only by including all of these concepts of civic engagement, we can facilitate active civic and social participation of the diverse senior citizens.
Public policy recommendations and programs relating to the civic engagement of older adults
The policymakers need to recognize these seniors as untapped resources to promote their healthy aging and reinvent civic life in America. Policies that reduce economic and health barriers need to be developed so that the diverse old people can contribute their experience and time for the improvement of our community. We should not marginalize these senior people if they are unable to meet the expectations of taking part in civic engagements.
In the last century, the government has introduced several initiatives and programs for encouraging more and more senior citizens to be engaged with various civic activities. The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 created the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), which was a domestic volunteer program and was modeled on the Peace Corps. It was meant to solve the nation’s problems, like providing volunteers to impoverished communities, with the support of its citizens to raise the living standard of its people. Later in 1973, VISTA was merged with the Peace Corps and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 was established for providing regulations and funding for the VISTA operations. It aimed towards expanding and fostering voluntary service of the citizen in community activities for the elderly, vulnerable, disadvantaged, and poor. It also created the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) and Foster Grandparents Program (FGP), which employed retired people as volunteers and provided services to the elderly.
Three important National Senior Services Corps, i.e. the RSVP, FGP, and the Senior Companion Program, provided numerous volunteer opportunities for the senior people. RSVP volunteers provided services like tax aid, respite care, disaster relief, home visitation, tutoring, and mentoring programs, shopping assistance, telephone support, home renovation, and health care counseling services. The FGP supported children having special needs like personal or academic problems, literacy and reading programs, juvenile correctional facilities, parenting and teen pregnancy programs, drug treatment centers, and homeless shelters. The Senior Companions Program is an association of service programs where the older volunteers are given opportunities to utilize their experiences for the community’s needs. It provides assistance and emotional support mainly to senior citizens who either live alone or are homebound and frail. The volunteers accompany these people to grocery stores, community centers, social events, and medical appointments.
Also in 1965, the Older Americans Act (OAA) was passed which strongly supported various forms of civic volunteering. The fundamental importance of civic engagement in the OAA programs had three categories. Firstly, it considered civic engagement valuable for circulating under-utilized resources. Secondly, it functions as a knowledge resource that is both creative and curative. Finally, it is complete in itself as participation itself is an active expression that the elderly people have toward the government. It establishes their faith that they are dignified and valuable to society. By taking part in decision-making procedures increase their mutual interaction reducing the feeling of powerlessness. Today civic engagement has become a significant element in the policies developed, programs delivered and services utilized under OAA. After the first generation baby boomers became qualified for benefits in 2006, the need to expand the legislative scope of OAA for serving these volunteers was realized. Presently there are seven titles in the OAA and the seventh objective among the ten board-policy targets in Title I deals with civic engagement. The OAA was also reauthorized in 2006 when steps to develop new civic engagement choices were included for senior Americans. The new OAA authorized the Administration on Aging (AoA) for granting aids to organizations, which employ senior citizens in volunteer services for the betterment of communities. It has also directed AoA to work with Corporation for National and Community Service for developing a complete policy for utilizing senior people to deal with national and local needs and include engaging them in the different activities of non-profit and public organizations, like the faith-based and community-based organizations.
Civic engagement of the senior people can be enhanced through public policy initiatives. As already stated these senior citizens are experienced and affluent in their fields and can make a major contribution to our society but due to certain barriers they are unable to derive benefits of civic participation and society cannot benefit from them. They will be benefited from the public policies, as it will help to circulate the resources of the aged people for strengthening American public life. Recently heads of non-profit organizations, government officials, and gerontologists have prioritized civic engagement of senior people. Although the old people desire to be socially involved and are more adaptable as they frequently interact with their neighbors and are open to volunteering and religious participation, it has been found that they have a very small social network and are not close to the members. This further emphasizes the need for public initiatives for promoting civic engagement of the senior people.
Sometimes the segregation of the vulnerable and poor seniors is because of the present private-oriented civic engagement approaches. The initiatives of these private civic engagement activities mainly focus on those elderly who are well off and have financial resources and transportation that allow them to volunteer in national service activities. Thus, we have to make sure that these public policies are comprehensive, fair, and can be applied within the present structure of the OAA.
In America, civic engagement has conventionally relied upon private associational activity and voluntarism. However, without the assistance and support of the public, the civic participation of the elderly is not possible. Senior people with little physical and social resources require assistance to take part in political and social actions. Only a public-oriented civic engagement approach can take this discussion beyond simple volunteerism. It is thus a community responsibility to promote civic engagement of the elderly people instead of an exclusive quality that has been assigned to a group of seniors who have been given the role of the new guardians of American civic life. The significance of the volunteering and service initiatives taken up by the heads of non-profit organizations and the government and various scholars are not minimized by the public-oriented approach of civic engagement. On the other hand, it acknowledges the diversity of the senior citizens in terms of their abilities and resources, which can independently be directed towards civic engagement activities. The Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) are various agencies that have been designated by the US state government to be the center for the OAA programs. Society along with the AAAs should assist vulnerable and disadvantaged senior citizens so that they can be included in the civic engagement activities. This will help them find a better use for their experience and skills and impart wisdom present in the maturity of these senior citizens to the younger generations.
Recent legislation, which is the reauthorization of OAA known as the Public Law 109-365, has encouraged a search for inspirational programs to tackle the requirements of the diverse senior people and also their caregivers. The areas have also been directed to expand the notion of civic engagement for reaching senior citizens. However, these legislations require better coordination among the local agencies concerned with community planning and the state government. It also requires entrepreneurship and innovation by utilizing technological service models. The federal funds should be used as a means of bringing together private and public resources for allowing more creative and flexible programs. A large number of senior citizens, especially those who are economically disadvantaged and physically challenged will benefit from the above.
Several steps were taken by the White House Conference on Aging (WHCA) in 2005 for promoting and recognizing civic engagement activities to be a national goal among the elderly. Out of the top 50 resolutions that were recommended there, five resolutions were put forward for the promotion of civic engagement and two demanded new meaningful activities and the reauthorization of the National Community Service Act for expanding civic engagement and volunteering. To foster civic engagements the AAAs need to provide transportation to the community-based volunteering, social and learning programs, computer training to the elderly, and disseminate domestic volunteering opportunities. Presently there are some transportation programs for taking the seniors to educational programs and libraries. Numerous free college programs are also available to senior adults both in private and public universities. Culturally attracting meals and fashionable dance programs that draw a large section of our local community to various events can be mixed with possibilities for the seniors to learn about volunteering programs like the RSVP and FGP. Educational services and training programs, like E-Training, also promoted civic engagement by opening new prospects for engaging with family members and social networks. Teaching the elderly Internet navigation also creates opportunities for these e-literate senior people to be engaged with volunteer activities and paid work, and also to help others right from their homes.