Rita Dichele holds Masters’ degrees in Counseling and Healthcare Administration. Currently, she is an advanced doctoral learner at Capella University where she is writing her dissertation on successful aging. Rita resides in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts and serves as a board member on the Council on Aging. She is a town appointee for the Shrewsbury Cultural Council, facilitates two groups at the Shrewsbury Senior Center, and is a certified SHINE Medicare/Medicaid counselor. Rita is also a past presenter at the 2009 American Society on Aging Conference.
Even though many communities provide some type of senior center program, for many the senior center remains a mystery. If you asked people in your town if they knew where the senior center was located, they would undoubtedly say yes. However, if you were to ask those same persons what actually went on inside the center, they would most likely be at a loss for words.
The senior center is a place that anyone aged 60 or older can visit and offers services that are designed to help the senior live a better life. Many senior centers provide a nutritious meal, recreational and educational programs, legal advice, and medical screening. For instance, a typical senior center may have volunteer doctors and nurses who are available to take blood pressures, provide hearing tests or lend an ear to a senior who might have a health concern.
It is a great place to learn about Medicare, fuel assistance, or about food stamps. It is also a great place to drop in to have a cup of coffee and talk with neighbors.
There are approximately 16,000 senior centers in the United States that are located in either stand alone buildings or as add-ons to existing community buildings such as town halls or schools. Most senior centers are located in downtown areas where the traffic is high.
Unfortunately, many seniors are reluctant to go to the senior center. The National Institute of Senior Centers reported that in the last census of 2000 only 20% of the elderly population had ever visited a center.
Poor attendance at senior centers may be the result of the senior’s own perception of what the center is really all about. Interestingly enough, many seniors in general think the senior center is a place for the old who are feeble and frail. Some seniors think it is a place that is attended by lonely individuals who no longer have a spouse. And for others, the senior center might be seen as a place where only the poor people can go.
So the question remains: why are senior centers underused when in actuality a senior center program can serve the senior well?
As a caregiver to my 86 year old mother, I found myself in the position of wondering why my own Mom did not want to visit the senior center. We would have many conversations about her going to the center in which she would provide good reasons not to go. She didn’t like the activities. She didn’t like to knit or play bridge or even paint. Usually, I found myself agreeing with her that perhaps the senior center wasn’t a place for her to go, especially if she couldn’t do arts and crafts or play cards.
My curiosity got the better of me one day, so I decided to visit the senior center in my home town. To my amazement, it was a bustling place that seemed well attended. I picked up a senior bulletin in order to take the mystery out of what the senior center was all about.
The center offers a variety of activities: current events group, a writer’s group, men’s club, a bereavement support group, book discussion club, belly dancing, movies, mahjong, bocce, Pilates, and of course lots of card playing, knitting and many crafts to try.
Essentially, I have come to learn that most programs offered by a senior center provide opportunity for seniors to improve the quality of their life and to compensate for the losses many experience later in life. Unfortunately, as we age we experience many more losses forcing us to have to face disappointment, sadness and uncertainty. Loss for a senior can include loss of: spouse, sibling, pet, health, cognitive and physical functioning, autonomy, home, finances, etc.
Furthermore, the senior center actually provides seniors a place to go so that they can remain in their own community in lieu of other options such as institutional care. In fact many geriatric providers are finding that the community neighborhood can function as a means to provide resources so that seniors are able to remain in their homes, a living style known as aging in place. Overall, the senior center can be a valuable resource for many seniors since it provides them the opportunity to age successfully in the environment of their own choosing.
My mother eventually found her way to the senior center. We made the journey together and she was able to overcome her reluctance to attend. Mom has found that the center provides her with the opportunity to mingle with people she would otherwise not have met. Often many of us forget that many seniors no longer have that daily contact that many of us experience because of our jobs, school, or volunteer work.
I have accompanied my mother to the center many times as I have found that not only are seniors welcomed but the caregiver is welcomed as well. For instance, it is not uncommon for the caregiver to accompany a parent so that the parent is able to participate in the center’s activities. Many senior centers in fact highly encourage the caregiver to visit so that the senior is more easily able to adapt to the center’s surroundings. The caregiver’s presence at the center helps many seniors overcome the anxieties that might otherwise put off their attending the center.
What I have seen and experienced has taken the mystery out of what happens inside a senior center. I would strongly recommend visiting a senior center in your own community. You will most likely be as amazed as I was. The senior center is a great place to bring your mother, father, sibling, friend or client.
Ask my Mom.
