Adaptive Strategies

In the literature, adaptive capacities have received more attention than adaptive actions as a dimension of adaptation. In this research, adaptive actions are defined through adaptive strategies, where adaptive strategies are considered as a framework of possible actions.

A strategy is an important tool because it allows achieving goals when resources or capacities are limited. Rumelt (2011) distinguished three parts of a successful strategy:

• A diagnosis that defines or explains the nature of the challenge;

• A guiding policy for dealing with the challenge; and

• Coherent actions designed to carry out the guiding policy.

A diagnosis, according to Rumelt (2011), helps to define the situation by linking facts to form patterns and suggesting that more attention be paid to some issues and less to others. It can transform one’s view of the situation by introducing different perspectives or opening access to knowledge about how analogous situations were handled in the past, and permitting an evaluation of the strategy. Moreover, making the diagnosis allows the rest of the strategy to be revisited and amended as circumstances change. The second chapter of this research described possible future challenges for cities; the recognition of such challenges is a significant step for local actors to find a way to address growing financial insecurity among the elderly.

The guiding policy outlines an overall approach for overcoming the obstacles highlighted by the diagnosis, which defines the main challenges. It is “guiding” because it channels actions in a certain direction without defining exactly what should be done. Rumelt (2011) explains that a guiding policy is not just goals, or a vision, or images of desirable end states;

rather it defines a method of grappling with the situation and ruling out a vast array of possible actions. A guiding policy helps decision makers by anticipating the actions and reactions of others, by reducing the complexity and ambiguity of a situation, by exploiting the existing capacities and concentrating effort on key aspects of the situation, and by creating policies and actions that are coherent and coordinated; each of these positive elements build on one another rather than canceling each other out. However, coherent actions are not about coordination in terms of continuing mutual adjustments among actors. Very often, the term

“strategy” is used as what Rumelt calls “guiding policy”. But without a diagnosis, it is not possible to evaluate alternative guiding policies, and without at least the first round of action, one cannot be sure that the guiding policy can be implemented. Good strategy is not just what should be done, it is also about why and how. Therefore, in order to address the issue of financial insecurity of aging populations, strategies should be developed by local governments that identify the nature of challenge, set goals and directions for policies that determine actions and mobilize resources and capacities to execute the actions.

Guiding Policies or Strategic Approaches

A guiding policy — strategic approaches or directions that local actors choose for dealing with the challenges is the second important aspect of a successful strategy. Weir (2013) introduced strategies that local governments use to build safety nets for residents, which can be also applied by other local actors. That research distinguished engaged local governments, weak local governments, and avoiders. These roles are the basis for the actions.

Many localities – and especially big to medium-sized cities and some affluent suburbs – approach their responsibilities for enhancing the quality of life and addressing safety net issues with a mix of preferences and resources. For economic and political reasons, they may prioritize enhancing the quality of life for business, the middle class and affluent residents; but they also face political pressure to strengthen the safety net. Cities are likely to have significant numbers of low-income residents and especially be home to populations with incomes well below the poverty line. These localities experience strained financial re-sources but often contain a well established public and nonprofit organizational infrastructure for assisting low-income residents. The recession has enhanced the fiscal strain and resulted in cutbacks of key services, diminishing the quality of life in the vast majority of these places. But at the same time that the recession

has battered the finances of these cities, federal ARRA funds made possible some new initiatives. This combination of stress and new resources prompted many local governments to engage as connectors, system builders, innovators, and advocates for the safety net, even as others have taken actions that may undermine it in the future (Weir, 2013).

The roles of engaged local governments introduced by Weir (2013) are aimed at any low-income group, and can be applied to low-income older adults. Local governments take on four major role types, as described in the following:

• Local Governments as Connectors. Municipalities connect low-income residents to federal and state benefits and resources. By building strong local public bureaucracies to administer social programs and by supporting outreach, local governments can ensure high take-up rates for federal benefits.

• Local Governments as System Builders. Municipalities oversee new connections among local organizations to promote more effective service programs, and combine state and federal income streams in new ways to maximize their role as implementers of federal programs. A local government’s influence over implementation is a critical determinant in the quality and reach of the safety net.

• Local Governments as Program Innovators. Municipalities initiate new strategies and programs to support financial security and opportunities for low-income residents.

Such innovations can provide models for other localities. Even governments with limited resources can introduce smaller-scale innovations

• Local Governments as Advocates. Municipalities use their political connections to secure federal and state resources for programs serving low-income residents, or to change federal, state, and local programs to support more effective local action.

They can also support coalitions of nonprofits advocating for low-income residents, or support nonprofit efforts to secure federal, state, and local funds (these may require matching grants).

In order to adapt this framework to the constellation of different actors that make up senior support networks, in this research, system builders are understood as actors that create a coherent network of hybrid forms of organization, which are variously described as collaborations, alliances, or partnerships. Waddock (1991) characterizes partnerships as essentially cross-sectoral: “The voluntary collaborative efforts of actors from organizations in two or more economic sectors in a forum in which they cooperatively attempt to solve a problem or issue of mutual concern that is in some way identified with a public policy agenda item.” She also distinguishes three types of partnerships:

• Systemic partnerships, where interdependence is broadly based, and many organi-zations must necessarily be involved at the highest levels in order to deliver social long-term benefits, created by system builders focusing on strategic institutional rela-tionships;

• Federational partnerships, which have a medium-sized scope in that they deal with an issue of interest involving actors working in the same field (industry) dealing with administrative policy decisions; and

• Programmatic partnerships, where the scope of the problem is relatively narrow and involves a few interested actors that develop a service needed by one of the actors.

The ability of actors to combine state and federal income streams in new ways, and maximize their role as implementers of federal programs, is the role of a connector. The roles of program innovators and advocates have the same characteristics as it is described by Wier. Weak local actors have very little public capacity, and struggle to implement any strategy to assist low-income residents.

Coherent Actions and Continuum of Care

The last element of a successful strategy is a set of coherent actions. In the literature, there are different concepts for services and programs, depending on the patterns of service usage by older adults. Coherent actions designed to carry out the guiding policy form the network of support for the elderly.

The "continuum of care" concept accounts for the way that many older adults move from one end of the continuum (independence) to the other (dependence), and that services must exist at every point along the continuum to meet the social, medical, and personal needs of seniors. Conceptually, the continuum of care is a “system of social, personal, financial, and medical services that support the well-being of any older adult, regardless of the person’s level of functioning,” (Wacker and Roberto, 2013).

Wacker and Roberto (2013) distinguishes three groups of services for older adults that take the dependency-level of the older adult into account.

• Community Services benefit older adults with low levels of dependency. These services encourage participants to enhance personal and social well-being. These include information and referral, volunteer and intergenerational programs, education and employment programs, active adult centers, and income assistance programs.

• Support Services help older adult who need assistance in maintaining their level of functioning. These include nutrition programs, health and wellness programs, mental health services, legal services, transportation, and housing.

• Long-Term Care Services assist seniors who have greater dependency. These include care management, home care, respite care, and nursing homes. These services are usually the most expensive for communities.

Traditionally, the continuum of care is considered linear: in the beginning of retirement, seniors are active and independent, and as they age, they require more assistance. Wacker and Roberto (2013) suggest a new view: “Rather than moving in a linear fashion from independence to dependence, older adults move in and out of areas of service need as they experience changing levels of independence and dependence, health and illness, and financial stability and instability,” (Figure 3.4). This claim provides a basis for the argument that financial insecurity can change this linear view, as older adults experiencing financial insecurity may require all three groups of services in any moment. Nevertheless, in order to keep seniors independent and promote aging in place, community and support services would play a bigger role. Therefore in this research community and support services have received the most attention. Since seniors’ largest expenditures are for housing, medical care, food, and transportation, support services in these are fields are the most needed.

Therefore, in this research, these four categories of services were the main interest of study in order to understand local actors’ roles.

Employment and income programs are a major interest among seniors with financial insecurity, because they can directly influence their economic situation. Free services provided by local community volunteers can be also an important factor that changes the lives of low-income older adults. Therefore, this research focuses on these three types of programs too. Local actors can choose different ways of addressing the problem of aging in poverty and financial insecurity by providing different action plans. These are the first step to the real actions, services and programs, which are the only way to change the situation and opportunities of low-income elderly persons, and to find a solution for having adequate financial means throughout retirement