The roles and effects of senior public housing social workers: An exploratory study of the Boston Consortium for Health and Social Services

As the average age of senior public housing residents increases, so does interest in housing, health, and social services integration. Discussions thus far have tended to emphasize the managers' or service providers' point of view. This study considers the tenants' context and perspectives. It examines the roles and effects of the social workers of the Boston Consortium of Health and Social Services, a group of agencies serving about half of Boston's senior public housing developments. A significant Consortium goal is to address community issues, e.g., to assist tenant organizations.;Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. For the quantitative analysis, data were obtained from a 1984-85 survey of Consortium building residents and a nearly identical 1986-87 survey (conducted for this study) which included three non-Consortium buildings matched to three Consortium buildings. Together, the samples approximate a pretest (n = 176) and a posttest (n = 181) group, and an experimental (n = 65) and a control (n = 45) group. For the qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with tenants, social workers, and managers of three Consortium buildings. Additional data were obtained from observing tenant, social worker, and other meetings.;The tenant communities are functional and active. Obstacles to community development include tyrannical leaders, health and mobility problems, disillusionment, and a sizable subgroup of isolated tenants. Both inactive and active tenants express desires for and optimism about modest levels of social worker assistance to address these and other problems such as maintenance and security.;As hypothesized, both bivariate and regression analysis results suggest that the social workers' presence positively affects tenants' levels of participation in building activities, other activity, concern about the buildings, and perception of service needs; and does not appear to affect service utilization. Contrary to the hypotheses, their presence does not appear to affect morale, levels of social engagement, or the knowledge of how to get help.;The results suggest important roles for community-oriented social workers in senior public housing. Recommendations include: (1) increased social worker emphasis on tenant education, leadership development and support, and assisting organizations with urgent issues while building long-term strength; (2) federal, state, and housing authority financial and other support for tenant participation in management and for community-oriented social workers.