Community Service for Elderly People in Riverside City

There is an increasing concern for providing services for elderly people, and most communities in the United States offer a wide variety of them. Inadequate planning and little evaluation are common problems in the services offered by many communities. The main objectives of this study were to assess the kind of services available for elderly people in the city of Riverside, second, to make observations on the relations existing among the agencies delivering those services, and third, to make an evaluation of those services based on the information supplied by the agencies themselves. This was intended be descriptive research, and most of the data was obtained through interview with the personnel working with the agencies delivering services for the aged in Riverside City. The services found were grouped and analyzed according to a theoretical model of optimum community services for aged people. No specific services at the preventive level were found to be offered in the community. Scarcity of services at the protective level was also apparent. A good spectrum of services was found at the adjustment and integrative level, at the supportive level and at the congregate and shelter care service level. Several organizations such as the Friendly Visitors, the Social Service Unit of the Welfare Department and the Visiting Nurse Association were giving good services in their respective levels. The services offered by the community of Riverside can be improved by emphasizing communication, and the whole number of services can be extended to cover preventive level, by programs of education for adults before and after retirement