Community Size Differences in Senior Center Resources, Programming, and Participation

Abstract

Analyzed are longitudinal data for the 1980s on community size differences in senior center resources, programming, attendance, and participant characteristics for a 31 -state sample. More rural centers were found to have smaller facilities, staffs, budgets, and numbers of programs and participants and, overall, were less likely to have experienced growth during the 1980s. Their participants were older and poorer, and rural centers were less likely to report increases in participant incomes and health during the 1980s. The implications of these findings for rural center programming and funding are discussed.