Academic Community Partnerships to Promote Social Justice in Leisure Activities for Older Adults

Successful aging for older adults is defined as having good physical health, cognitive functioning, and opportunities for meaningful experiences that include interacting with others in productive activities. Good physical health is facilitated by physical activities and social interaction; however, over 60% of all older adults do not engage in physical activity during leisure time. Some older adults do not have the monetary resources to participate in classes or novel activities. Thus, unique programs have been established between a university and a local senior center in which students offer classes free of charge to seniors while earning course credit for the experience. This community-university partnership has promoted not only the physical health of seniors, but also opportunities to interact with families and friends. Example of the programs offered include client-centered computer classes, training in cell phone use, CarFit, a car-adjustment program for seniors, ballroom dancing, among others. The process for developing community-academic partnerships is described, the components necessary for success in such programs are offered along with outcomes measures and the realities of implementation. A partnership establishes the possibility that all older adults will be able to engage in meaningful, enjoyable, leisure time activities, despite limited financial resources to enable their participation.