Understanding and Applying Theory

Running Head : Understanding and Applying Theory

Understanding and Applying Theory

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Theories in favor of the senior citizen 's center

Activity Theory

Healthy aging is positively correlated with continued psychological and social participation of senior citizens with activities that may not be very similar to those that they have been used to , but substitutes them to accommodate their age and limited capabilities . Building a senior citizen 's center would allow them to participate in modified activities that they have pursued in middle age . The community would

be creating a venue by which the elderly could get educational training , physical and leisure activities suited to their age to reduce boredom . The center would encourage them to stay active , less depressed about aging . In the long-term , the center would promote a positive well-being among the elderly

Exchange Theory

Building a senior citizen 's center would benefit the senior citizens in many ways but on the part of the community , the project would have benefits as well as incur costs . A center would provide senior citizens a productive means by which to spend their retirement years . It would make them more active and social than they would if they simply spend most of their time at home or a retirement home . On the part of the community , the monetary cost of the project might make it impractical if the amount could be better spent in a much more needed community project . Then again , the elderly is as much a part of the community as much as the younger members and constructing a center would provide a psychological benefit for both age groups . To the elderly , a center is a reassurance that the community values them in spite their old age . To the younger generation , the center equally reassures them that they are doing something right for the elderly

Functionalism

Every age group needs to belong to an institution which would foster a sense of their membership in the larger community . Furthermore , to survive as a whole , all members should work together and slip into roles aimed towards fulfilling the needs of society . A senior citizen 's center would make the retirees a sense of belonging in the community as it would serve as their institution now that they have lost membership in their former workplaces . They would form into a social group which could organize activities to benefit the entire community . It would make the cohesion of the community stronger as an organized group of senior citizens means that even the elderly are contributing towards the stability and constant activity of the community , factors which characterize a healthy , working community

Continuity Theory

Senior citizens would continue to seek for the same activities relationships and lifestyles they had in younger years . A senior citizen 's center would be a good way by which the elderly members of society can organize , assemble and socialize - just like when they were younger . Since they all belong to the same age group , members would develop a...