Inventory and analysis of definitions of social participation found in the aging literature: Proposed taxonomy of social activities

Abstract

Social participation is a key determinant of successful and healthy aging and therefore an important emerging intervention goal for health professionals. Despite the interest shown in the concept of social participation over the last decade, there is no agreement on its definition and underlying dimensions. This paper provides an inventory and content analysis of definitions of social participation in older adults. Based on these results, a taxonomy of social activities is proposed. Four databases (Medline, CINAHL, AgeLine and PsycInfo) were searched with relevant keywords (Aging OR Ageing OR Elderly OR Older OR Seniors AND Community involvement/participation OR Social engagement/involvement/participation) resulting in the identification of 43 definitions. Using content analysis, definitions were deconstructed as a function of who, how, what, where, with whom, when, and why dimensions. Then, using activity analysis, we explored the typical contexts, demands and potential meanings of activities (main dimension). Content analysis showed that social participation definitions (n = 43) mostly focused on the person’s involvement in activities providing interactions with others in society or the community. Depending on the main goal of these social activities, six proximal to distal levels of involvement of the individual with others were identified: 1) doing an activity in preparation for connecting with others, 2) being with others, 3) interacting with others without doing a specific activity with them, 4) doing an activity with others, 5) helping others, and 6) contributing to society. These levels are discussed in a continuum that can help distinguish social participation (levels 3 through 6) from parallel but different concepts such as participation (levels 1 through 6) and social engagement (levels 5 and 6). This taxonomy might be useful in pinpointing the focus of future investigations and clarifying dimensions specific to social participation.

Introduction

Social participation is an important modifiable health determinant and a key outcome measure as well as a common emerging intervention goal of health professionals. Mortality (Berkman, 1995), morbidity (Berkman, Glass, Brissette, & Seeman, 2000), and quality of life (Levasseur, Desrosiers, & St-Cyr Tribble, 2008) have all been shown to be associated with social participation. Enhancement of social participation is a key proposal of the World Health Organization’ (WHO) policy framework in response to concerns about population aging (WHO, 2002). Social participation is highly valued by older adults and provides fulfilment (Levasseur, St-Cyr Tribble, & Desrosiers, 2009). Moreover, volunteering, which might be viewed as part of social participation, can provide free essential services and create a better community environment (Wuthnow, 1991). Therefore, it is not surprising that social participation has been a key component of many conceptual models of human functioning or successful aging, and the focus of a substantial amount of research.

Contributions to social participation research by investigators in the field of gerontology have been described as very rich (e.g. Dijkers, 2008). Social participation of older adults has been the subject of theorizing (McPherson, 2004) and the focus of a considerable number of empirical studies. Since older adults in particular spend less time in structured employment activities and thus have more time to participate in other activities, their social participation might differ from that of younger adults. Although the volunteer rate has been shown to be lower among older people, older volunteers offer more time than younger volunteers (Statistics Canada, 2009). Even if current trends in socioeconomic (Erlinghen & Hank, 2006) and health disparities (Boneham & Sixsmith, 2006) have a major impact on opportunities for social participation, older adults’ plans for retirement are more diverse than ever (Lesemann, 2007).

Despite the interest in social participation, there is no agreement around a common definition. In fact, the fields of public health and rehabilitation seem to have different ways of defining social participation. Moreover, many similar concepts such as participation, social engagement, social connectedness, social capital, social support, social network, social integration, and community involvement have sometimes been used interchangeably with social participation. The lack of consensus around a definition of social participation has important consequences: communication difficulties between those using the concept, problems in the development and selection of instruments to measure social participation (Levasseur, Desrosiers, & St-Cyr Tribble, 2007), and blurred or incomplete social policy efforts. Specifically for clinicians, problems could result from inconsistent analyses of social participation situations followed by incomplete or inappropriate interventions. For researchers, another important consequence of the lack of consensus around a definition is the difficulty in comparing results stemming from a variety of conceptualizations (theoretical organization of a concept) and measurement scales (Field & Jette, 2007).

In this paper we provide an inventory and content analysis of definitions of social participation in older adults. To achieve this goal, we examined materials from the fields that usually address social participation (public health, rehabilitation, and gerontology) as well as literature on psychology, sociology, and social work. The inventory was restricted, although not exclusively, to papers on older adults. To contribute to the debate over the conceptualization of social participation, a taxonomy of social activities (see explanations below) was also proposed. A taxonomy is a clear and consistent system that allows differentiation between the levels of a concept (Polatajko et al., 2007) such as social participation. It presents a hierarchical ordering of related concepts that enable their specification and placement in relation to each other (Krathwohl, Bloom, & Masia, 1964).