What influences older people to join a community hub to engage in healthy ageing programs? An exploratory study

IF 1.8 4区医学 Q4 GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY

Australasian Journal on Ageing Pub Date : 2025-08-25 DOI:10.1111/ajag.70079

Chiara Naseri, Anne-Marie Hill, Dan Xu, Jacqueline Francis-Coad, Sharmila Vaz, Luke Garswood, Roger Meakes, Josephine Umbella, Geraldine O'Brien, Trish Starling, Tammy Weselman

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objectives

Most people seek to stay connected to their community as they age; this has been a major focus in the development of innovative community programs in Australia. This study aimed to explore what influences older people to join a community hub to engage in healthy ageing programs.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews (n = 29) were conducted during an Open Day in early 2023 at an urban community hub in Western Australia, followed by telephone interviews (n = 9) of a purposive sample of older individuals, community hub facilitators and coordinators of national community hubs. Analysis used a socio-ecological framework.

Results

Deductive content analysis identified social prescribing as an overarching influencer for older people to join and engage in healthy ageing programs and main themes of (i) supporting community hub facilitators to harness community assets, (ii) link-supports provided to older members by paid community hub concierges triggered positive outcomes at individual and community levels, (iii) online and in-person social and physical healthy ageing activities tailored to member interests and (iv) nurturing social networks and reciprocity between members sustained engagement in healthy ageing activities.

Conclusions

The dynamic process of social prescribing was a central influencer for older adults to engage in healthy ageing programs, and the social network perpetuated through community hubs was an immeasurable social investment that boosted the resilience of intergenerational populations in Australian communities. Policy support is required for communities to meet the challenge of being responsive to the needs of members who seek to remain independent as they age in place.

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是什么影响老年人加入社区中心参与健康老龄化计划？探索性研究

随着年龄的增长，大多数人都希望与社区保持联系；这一直是澳大利亚创新社区项目发展的主要焦点。本研究旨在探讨影响老年人加入社区中心参与健康老龄化计划的因素。方法在2023年初的开放日期间，在西澳大利亚州的一个城市社区中心进行了半结构化访谈（n = 29），随后对老年人、社区中心促进者和国家社区中心协调员进行了电话访谈（n = 9）。分析使用了社会生态框架。结果：演绎内容分析确定了社会处方是老年人加入和参与健康老龄化计划的首要影响因素，以及(i)支持社区中心促进者利用社区资产的主题，（ii）由付费社区中心礼宾员向老年成员提供的联系支持在个人和社区层面引发了积极的结果。（三）根据成员的兴趣进行在线和面对面的社会和身体健康老龄化活动；（四）培育成员之间的社会网络和互惠关系，持续参与健康老龄化活动。社会处方的动态过程是老年人参与健康老龄化计划的主要影响因素，通过社区中心延续的社会网络是一项不可估量的社会投资，它提高了澳大利亚社区代际人口的适应能力。社区需要政策支持，以应对对寻求在年老时保持独立的成员的需求作出反应的挑战。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Australasian Journal on Ageing 医学-老年医学

CiteScore

3.10

自引率

6.20%

发文量

114

审稿时长

>12 weeks

期刊介绍： Australasian Journal on Ageing is a peer reviewed journal, which publishes original work in any area of gerontology and geriatric medicine. It welcomes international submissions, particularly from authors in the Asia Pacific region.