Empowering Older Women Through Service-Learning Research

Americans over the age of 65 of racial and ethnic minority backgrounds represent a rapidly growing segment of the U.S. population, currently totaling over 13% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2003). Statistics on Los Angeles County (where the author of this chapter conducts SL research) indicate that 9.7% of the population in this southwest region of the United States is composed of older adults, 59% of these being women (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). The latter represent the majority of many older ethnic minorities (National Center for Health Statistics, 1996). Overall, women make up the largest portion of older populations, and their number is expected to grow fast in the next decades (Laditka, 2002). Thus, it is critical to include them in the research efforts and to encourage the recruitment of ethnically diverse older women in particular. To contribute to addressing this research need, this chapter proposes potential topics for SL endeavors targeting elderly women. This is followed by a discussion of some methodological and assessment issues that should be taken into account when developing and implementing SL research. (author)