Research on the factors leading to retirement and the consequences of retirement for health and well-being has been a primary concern of social scientists for several decades. In recent years their efforts have turned from snap-shot studies of retirees toward an examination of retirement as a process. In this proposal we draw on a life course approach and longitudinal data to be collected from retirees and older workers in two major corporations as well as those living in a largely rural county in upstate New York to understand the timing of retirement and its implications for post-retirement paid work and volunteering. We also plan to develop and test interventions designed to facilitate volunteer participation by retirees, and to study the pathways linking paid work, volunteer work, and health. Our goals are: (1) to formulate and test models of the causes, consequences, and pathways of post- retirement productive activity, (2) to elucidate the mechanisms by which current circumstances may affect choices concerning productive activity for women as well as men, managers as well as production and service workers, and (3) to test and evaluate the utility of various intervention strategies designed to promote volunteerism in the post-retirement years. We hypothesize that the process of retirement and activity in the post- retirement life phase are influenced by roles and resources throughout adulthood, as well as by current opportunities and situational constraints, including health. However, these factors may well operate so as to shape distinctive post-retirement life pathways by gender and by occupation. We also postulate that organizational interventions, as well as community-level interventions, should prove particularly effective in promoting productive lives in the form of active volunteering in the post-retirement third age of life. P50AG117110003 This proposal seeks funding for a paired observational study and intervention examining the link between neighboring behaviors and the physical and psychological functioning of older adults. The role of neighboring in the maintenance of independent living situations of older adults, the nature and development of neighboring relationships, and the association of these relationships with physical and mental health have been neglected in current research on social support, personal relationships, and health. Yet, promoting the use of neighbors as adjuncts to the family and formal/agency support systems may have important practical implications (Litwak 1985). Research from the 1960s and 1970s indicates that neighboring may be an important complement to family support systems and be critical for older adults with no or limited family support. Neighboring can enhance the safety of older adults through a monitoring or """"""""watching"""""""" function, improve access to critical goods and services such as grocery shopping, medical care and household maintenance, promote independence and positive feelings about the self, and enhance the general psychological well-being and social involvement of older adults. Although neighboring can provide an important protection against isolation and neglect, it is undermined by privacy concerns, fear of others, time constraints, and lack of community facilities that promote social interaction. This proposal describes a three-year longitudinal survey project in two upstate New York communities to study naturally occurring neighboring behaviors and their relationship to physical and mental health, and then to apply the findings in an educational intervention designed to assist and inform socially isolated respondents at risk for health problems about the benefits of neighborhood integration. This proposal builds on research done by the principal investigator regarding the influence of social networks and participation on the health of older adults; the situational personal determinants of social network structure; and the role of social support in maintaining individual physical and psychological well-being.
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