Effects of social networking strategies on the community-dwelling older Chinese adults in Hong Kong

Abstract

Aging is a natural and inevitable process that entails developmental vulnerabilities and losses of social connections. By re-creating social networks, efforts have been made to purposefully enhance the interaction among older adults within the community in Hong Kong. This paper assesses the effectiveness of using social networking as a means to activate social resources which are available within the community. A three-wave quasi-experimental panel study is used to collect data from 288 participants through face-to-face structured interviews over 39 months. Linear multiple regression with the covariance analysis reveals that participants receiving social network input displayed improvement in their community knowledge, social service use and participation in neighborhood activities. Sustaining active participation is crucial to achieve promising results. Those who were continuously active throughout the intervention period experienced significant increases in activity levels, an improved friend network, positive help-seeking attitude, an enhanced self-esteem score, with a reduction in the frequency of encountering different stressful life events. The research findings highlight strategies being created through social policy that aim to successfully achieve the inclusion of the community-dwelling older adult in the planning and delivery of their services.