Two Central Illinois farming communities (one Amish and one non-Amish) were selected for this study on the basis of preliminary interviews with individuals knowledgeable about communities in this geographic area in which residents generally assist one another in times of need, rather than seek outside help. Residents of Amish communities and some other small, traditional, non-Amish (English) rural communities often prefer to provide various types of services, such as hot meals for invalids, housekeeping services for the frail, and transportation for themselves and their neighbors, rather than seeking such service provision through formalized programs, like Meals on Wheels and Home Health Aides. Three primary areas of interest in each interview were: (1) perception of need for services by older residents of the subject's community; (2) perception of means by which services presently were being provided to older residents; and (3) attitude toward utilization by older residents of services provided through organized, outside agencies/programs. Both communities felt that various kinds of services for/to the elderly "had been,""were being," and probably "always would be" most effectively provided by community residents, without reliance on externally initiated services. (AH)