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Pasadena Village Joins Two Healthy Aging Resource Projects

Author: Ed Mervine & Dick Myers

Pasadena Villagers know that the Village works for them — that fact is reinforced at every gathering and on every page of the website. The energy and excitement we create is palpable. So it’s natural that we would want to spread the word and make the Village available to more people. Not only are we living richer, more rewarding lives but by creating a model and opening it to others, we are also making an important contribution to our communities and to the nation as a whole.  

Ask people why the Village works and you get a variety of answers. But most credit the Village’s model of self-governance and mutual support delivered through the talents of its members as what allows Villagers to realize their potential. Benefits manifest as happier, longer and healthier lives. Public policymakers have taken note, seeing a potential low-cost solution to the high public cost of aging. But we are a nation that claims to make decisions and public policy based on evidence. What evidence do we have? Do we know what Villagers do? Or in what ways they actually provide support to other members? Are Villagers healthier than aging non-Villagers? Do they spend less time in the hospital? Are they less isolated? Do they live longer? Pasadena Village (PV) has some data and is strengthening its aggregating capacity but we rely largely on anecdotal evidence.

Two-plus years ago, PV leaders, the Village to Village Network (VtVN) and other academic and research organizations launched two projects to generate evidence measuring Village impact.

First, the Village Impact Project (VIP), a multi-year project led by the VtVN, seeks to gather information on the services, programs, and events that Villages provide their members. VtVN worked with Helpful Village and Run My Village to develop a common taxonomy and to make changes to their systems that allow for easier aggregation of participating Village data. PV installed the Helpful Village’s version about 12 months ago and is implementing changes, starting with the Volunteer Module. The VIP will begin aggregating data and disseminating results over the next year. As we become more skilled at collecting, aggregating, and analyzing our own data, PV will be able to compare what we are doing to what other Villages are doing.

The emphasis of the second project, “Engaging Villages in Healthy Aging Research,” is on engagement. Rutgers University, the VtVN and the Rand Corporation launched this project in August 2023 with funding from an Engagement Award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). This project has four components:

1. Website: A well-designed and easy-to-navigate site with current information concerning both projects is available at villagesresearch.org.

2. Zoom Discussion Groups: Researchers, Pasadena Villagers, staff and board members participated in five sessions held in October. These focus groups were designed to develop a shared understanding of the health outcomes that are the most important to Villagers. Rand Corporation researchers will analyze recordings of the sessions and report findings in spring 2024.

3. Villages Healthy Aging Research Ambassadors Group: Researchers and representatives from Villages across the country gather on Zoom to plan, design and implement virtual Regional Summits concerning Villages and healthy aging research. Ambassadors will meet twice monthly, February through May.        

4. And finally, the Regional Summits: These will be held in June and July 2024 and will be conversations about a) how research can benefit Villages and the science of healthy aging and b) how to engage Villagers in healthy aging research.

Ultimately, better-designed research is expected to yield findings that document the benefits of Village membership and will better inform public policy and funding decisions. For Pasadena Village, the findings will allow us to know ourselves better, to evaluate what we do and to plan future programs and activities. We know from our experience that Village membership is a remedy for isolation and loneliness. Future research findings could provide the documentation we need to make a stronger case to the world.