Can a suitable model of community development be developed for the sustainable support of older people in Wales?

Community development is a crucial tool for the achievement of public health objectives, and the support of older people in the community is a key objective of public health This study examines the evolution of thinking on that subject. The history of community development, from its beginnings to the present, is studied in detail, particularly the development of divergent approaches to the method between the U.K. and the U.S.A. The development of community-based policies toward the revitalisation of communities in the U.K is examined There is a focus on Wales, and how the Welsh Government has strived for consistency in delivering its public health agenda in line with the World Health Organization's policies for health and well-being. In Wales, the economic and social realities of recession have retarded government's efforts to achieve this. Wales has produced innovative and progressive policies in the social regeneration field, especially for older people. The economic crisis will impact on future generations of older people with increasing severity unless an alternative source of support, outside the State, can be found. This study is the search for a viable solution for this problem - can the community be a sustainable resource for the support for older people? The salient issues arising from community development values, modelling, and practice in the U.K. and the U.S.A. have been combined with systems theory. This has produced a new model for the strategic planning of community development at the social planning level and for the co-ordination of local community resources. The work of Jack Rothman, Saul Alinsky, and the Tavistock Institute has been the baseline for this study, but the Welsh experience has been incorporated to ground this approach in context. The Welsh Government's Strategy for Older People has provided a model for policy formation and also for a vehicle for direct intervention for social change using community development models