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3 <br />and management should utilize the skills of older adults <br />and participants as employees, volunteers, advisory or <br />governing board members. <br />!1 <br />III. CRITICAL FACTORS IN PLANNING SENIOR CENTERS <br />Before planning any new senior centers in southern Orange, <br />three critical factors must be recognized and addressed: (1) The <br />basic designs of senior center facilities, (2) The diversity of <br />the older population and services needed, and (3) The types of <br />senior centers based on their programming. <br />A. Two Basic senior Center Designs. In investigating and <br />visiting various senior centers, two distinct facility <br />designs emerged: <br />1. A separate, exclusive facility for seniors on lv. <br />This type of design was typically found in the <br />triangle area, examples being Garner and Wendell. <br />2. An intergenerational facility. This type of design <br />involves serving seniors as part of a larger facility <br />for all age groups. Orange County has the best <br />example of this type with its Hillsborough Senior <br />Center (part of the Richard E. Whitted Human Services <br />Center) and the Carrboro Senior Center (part of the <br />Community ArtsCenter). <br />B. The Diversity of the older Population i Needed services. <br />We <br />capacity when ggnaidering senior. cants nin . Three <br />functional subgroups of older adults have been <br />identified: the "Active - Well ", the "Frail" and the <br />"Fragile ". This might be viewed as the three "stages of <br />aging" over time and are more specifically described <br />below. <br />1. Active]Well seniors. Most (almost 80 %, in fact) of <br />the people over 60 in this country and this community <br />belong to this section of the 60+ population. Though <br />many of these "Active" persons may have a chronic <br />health problem, it doesn't constitute any impairment <br />or prevent them from living the lives to which they <br />are accustomed. The focus of senior center planning <br />is usually on group_activities and services for <br />productive living and maintaining good health. <br />2. Moderately impaired seniors. Just over 15% of older <br />adults (60 +) do have health problems serious enough to <br />make them "frail ". Typically, they experience <br />difficulty with one or more of the common activities of <br />