Empowering Vulnerable Populations: Homebound Older Adults in Wood County
Anna Kelling is a fourth-year non-traditional student at Bowling Green State University. Originally, she is from the Washington D.C. area and this is where she attended high school. She is majoring in Social Work and minoring in Psychology. She has been admitted to the Master’s in Social Work program at BGSU and plans to start in Fall 2021. She also works full-time on campus as a Graduate Secretary in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. She was a recipient of a CURs Grant in Fall 2021, where she completed a project entitled, “Empowering Vulnerable Populations: Homebound Older Adults in Wood County”.
The main question this study sought to answer was: What are the issues homebound older adults are facing in Wood County and how can social workers help empower this vulnerable population?
My project looked at data from over 500 community dwelling older adults who are on the home delivered meal program through the Wood County Committee on Aging. This data is collected annually by the agency on paper assessment forms. I recruited undergraduate volunteers to help me enter the data into a database using a codebook I developed. Then, with the help of my faculty mentor Dr. Hee Soon Lee, we analyzed the data to see what needs were prevalent in the group.
This topic was sparked from a Social Work with Older Adults class I took with Dr. Hee Soon Lee in Fall 2019. In that class I began research with the Wood County Committee on Aging when I did a historical analysis to look at how the agency has grown and evolved over time. This led me to learn more about the homebound older adults who rely heavily on services from the agency.
Findings revealed that those who are living alone are 2.1 times more live in poverty that those who live with someone. Likewise, those who are living alone are 8.4 times more likely to be at high nutritional risk that those who live with someone. This shows social workers working with homebound older adults living alone should pay close attention to this group to ensure their basic needs are being met. Especially close attention should be paid to the nutritional needs and ensuring these older adults are aware of services such as the SNAP benefit, transportation to grocery shopping, and other benefits.
The COVID-19 pandemic was the biggest challenge. Thankfully I was still able to access the data, but the additional stress of remote classes and taking on more at work made it more difficult to spend time on research.
Pursuing a CURS research project was definitely a new and uncomfortable experience for me. I think it builds strength and character to pursue endeavors that are far outside of one’s comfort zone. I learned a lot about myself from this experience and gained learning that I will draw upon in my future work in the social work field.
Receiving a grant from CURS helped give me the motivation and support I needed to stay focused on my project during the semester on top of work and classes. Support from CURS and my faculty mentor helped me believe in myself to successfully complete the project.
When taking on an independent research project there are many unknowns at the beginning which can be intimidating, but over time it takes shape. If I can do it, you can do it! Make a timeline for your project with mini deadlines and rewards planned in. This will help you make progress and stay on track!
During the pandemic, I got into gardening and planted a 30x40 foot organic vegetable garden in my backyard!
"When taking on an independent research project there are many unknowns at the beginning which can be intimidating, but over time it takes shape."
Center for Undergraduate Research and Scholarship (CURS)
Updated: 03/07/2021 05:07PM