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Effectiveness of a Service Workers' Action Team (SWAT) for the Elderly *
Author(s) -
Stein Shayna R.,
Linn Margaret W.,
Weiner Audrey S.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1981.tb02380.x
Subject(s) - medicine , psychosocial , checklist , gerontology , activities of daily living , scale (ratio) , multivariate analysis of variance , physical therapy , psychiatry , psychology , physics , quantum mechanics , machine learning , computer science , cognitive psychology
The Service Workers Action Team (SWAT) is a three‐year, community‐based demonstration project for the elderly, with the primary goal of improving or maintaining psychosocial and physical functioning. With baseline scores and selected demography data as covariates, 243 experimental SWAT recipients were compared ( manova ) with 158 controls after six months, with respect to: 1) Hopkin's Symptom Checklist, 2) Social Participation Scale, 3) Life Satisfaction Scale, 4) Self‐Esteem Scale, 5) Activities of Daily Living, and 6) four selected health‐related questions. The frequency of responses for the experimental elderly were computed for program satisfaction at the time of follow‐up. In terms of psychosocial functioning, the experimental group fared significantly better at six months than did the control group. In terms of health, both groups declined in functional status, as evidenced by their scores on Activities of Daily Living, though the experimental subjects still were significantly better than the controls. The majority of the experimental group found the program to be helpful, with suggestions made for program expansion.