The Senior Community Service Employment Program: Its Influence on Participant Well-Being and Recommendations to Strengthen It

In this report to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs (December 2020), authors Cal J. Halvorsen, Ph.D., MSW; Kelsey Werner, MSW; and Elizabeth McColloch asked the following question: How does the Senior Community Service Employment Program influence financial, physical, and mental well-being among its low-income and older adult participants?

This project is innovative in its use of the CBSD method in three key ways:

1. This is the first time that CBSD has been used to examine the role that SCSEP plays in the lives of participants.
2. This is one of the first studies to engage older adults in CBSD.
3. Due to the constraints and opportunities posed by the pandemic, this is one of the first studies to move CBSD methods to virtual and telephone environments.

This report presents the systems map a casual loop diagram developed from these sessions. It also outlines the key recommendations uncovered from our sessions.