The Elderly in America

This book studies issues involving community work with the elderly and urban life. The book is based on seventeen months of intensive ethnographic fieldwork with the Volunteer Chore Ministry in King County, Washington. Because the research is carried out in a complex environment, it is quite similar to urban anthropology. Anthropoglogical study techniques include participant observation, as well as taking intake calls for the volunteer organization, organizing volunteer services, participating in staff meetings, and interviewing volunteers or staff members. Four primary phases comprised the research: understanding the basic structure and functioning of Volunteer Chore Ministry; understanding the structure and functioning of Volunteer Chore Ministry at the local church level; through a questionnaire, learning more about volunteer traits, views toward volunteer work, and interchanges between volunteers and clients; and, finally, through interviews, concentrating on volunteer-client intercommunication.