According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 76 million births
in the United States during the Baby Boomer years, 1946-1964. By, the year 2012, 11 million had died, leaving a little over 65 million, according to the Population Reference Bureau.
Present-day, senior citizens are surviving and thriving. In defiance of chronic disease and
disability risks associated with aging, cost-push inflation, and other societal determinants, aging populations are growing stronger and prospering. One of the factors for this optimistic trend is effectual community engagement, an action that is strongly associated with health and well-
being in late life.
Also known as civic or public engagement, by definition community engagement seeks to
engage the community to achieve sustainable outcomes, equitable decision-making processes, and deepen relationships and trust between government organizations and communities. Senior Community Engagement Advances Longevity and Sustainability
Getting involved in your community can be a crucial component of strengthening physical and mental health and well-being. Senior community engagement improves the awareness and visibility of regional problems and empowers communities to lend their voice to decision-making facets that affect their livelihood, families, neighborhoods, and even their legacy.
As a survival aim, community engagement offers diverse advantages. Seniors who connect in
engagement tend to not be isolated, have better time management, resolve conflict
constructively, share their acquired knowledge, and learn new things. There are also limitless
forms of social activities and recreation for seniors to engage in that include volunteer work,
community gardening, book clubs, tutoring, and walking clubs. Seniors have unique, collective participation power that additionally circumscribes activism,
advocacy, and the democratic process.
This paves the way for organizing interventions and engaging by undertaking social concerns such as age discrimination, poverty, violence, aging-in-place housing, economic inequality, religion, and social justice. Seniors play a constitutive role in society, creating a sustainable world. Utilizing effective community engagement methods offers seniors life-enhancing possibilities to age gracefully which exceeds any alternative. Experiencing optimal behaviors, better care, a stronger community, and tradition is a noteworthy value of senior community engagement.
