Neighborhood Social Cohesion, Depression and Well-Being in Senior Apartment Buildings: Do Congregate Meals Matter?

This pilot study aimed to investigate whether levels of neighborhood social cohesion, depression, and well-being in residents of affordable senior apartment buildings were positively influenced by the presence of congregate meals. The study included 18 adults age 62 and older who lived independently in two different affordable senior apartment buildings in Salt Lake City, Utah, one of which served congregate meals. A mixed methods design used a questionnaire to capture demographic information and responses to three validated tools measuring social cohesion, depression and well-being. Interviews were conducted to gather additional contextual data about meals. Results of independent t-test analysis revealed no significant difference in the three measures between participants in the two buildings. Qualitative analysis of the interviews showed congregate meals did positively influence social cohesion, depression and well-being of participants. An integrated analysis of these findings supports the importance of congregate meals as a positive influence on social cohesion, depression and well-being in affordable senior apartment buildings and suggest further study of neighborhood services like congregate meals is warranted.