Population ageing has been a focus of research since the 1960s (Michael et al. 2006), and it has become a domain of international discussions, debates and research throughout a myriad of disciplines including housing, urban planning and real estate (Buffel and Phillipson 2016, van Bronswijk 2015, Kort 2017). Kazak et al. (2017) described how the ageing population has a profound impact on the real estate market, which is transforming in terms of availability of retirement accommodation for older people including accessibility, adaptability, and the availability of single-floor dwellings. Older people usually have a strong connection with the environment they understand and know well (van Hoof et al. 2016), enabling them to spend the latter years of their life in a familiar setting, which, in turn, influences their self-confidence, independence and the potential to successfully age in place. Older people are encouraged to continue living in their homes a familiar environment to them, instead of moving to an institutional care facility, and this is referred to as “ageing-in-place” (van Hoof 2010). This can be supported by creating a functional and spatial structure of cities that are friendly to older people (van Hoof et al. 2018, van Hoof and Kazak 2018). In the domain of environmental design, a series of home modifications can be identified. The most frequently encountered measures in and around the home are adaptations to improve the accessibility of the home (i.e., removal of barriers such as thresholds, installation of stair lifts in multi-storey homes, and the replacement of bath tubs by walk-in showers,). Separately from these expensive measures and adaptations, simple handgrips can improve the accessibility, safety and mobility of older people (van Hoof et al. 2010, van Hoof et al. 2013). A further concern that should be considered within the living environment is the lack of storage space for wheeled walkers and mobility scooters (including a place to charge batteries) whilst living in an apartment block with limited space to manoeuvre on corridors (Kazak et al. 2017). However, with increasing demands for care, it is not always possible to remain living in one’s own home and moving into a residential or nursing facility is the only remaining option; whereby, specialist and/or nursing care can be accessed and provided in these living environments (van Hoof et al. 2009). Policy principles within long-term care aim to provide a home from home environment for their residents (Moise et al. 2004). Several specialised housing models have been developed in order to facilitate this person-centred care approach, as more traditional institutional settings often do not match with the new holistic and therapeutic goals (Verbeek 2017). Radical alterations have been made in comparison with traditional nursing homes, implementing changes in the organisational, physical and social environment of settings (Verbeek et al. 2009, van Hoof et al. 2009). For example, smaller groups of older people (six to seven persons) form a household, with nursing staff having integrated tasks, including assistance with activities of daily living, preparing meals, organising activities and doing household chores together with residents. Daily life is mainly determined by residents and nursing staff, and the physical environment resembles an archetypal house. With this distinct increase and popular notion of the role real estate plays in ageing-in-place and living well in old age, there is also a shifting focus regarding participation, activation, and helping each other. Home modifications and the home environment itself have a profound influence on the care provided and received at home. In short, the fewer barriers there are at home, the easier and less onerous responsibilities placed on the family carer(s) (Duijnstee 1992). Family carers themselves need such environmental interventions that support care, and a sense of community and belonging. Enabling one to age-in-place and to successfully age requires more than a simple occupational therapeutic approach of environmental interventions. It requires innovative new housing encompassing suitable technology arrangements that can facilitate and enable older adults to live comfortably into old age, preferably with others and offer family members (i.e., children, grandchildren and spouse). Furthermore, interconnecting technology into such environments can offer family members the option and opportunity to monitor their loved one remotely whilst all actors know there are additional safety barriers in place. This chapter discusses and provides innovative examples from a Dutch social housing association and their practices, which illustrates a new approach to environmental design that focuses more on building new communities in conjunction with the building itself, as opposed to the occupational therapeutic approaches and environmental support. First, we take a closer look at why we care for each other, which is the basis of the participation society, in which we must look after people who are near to us. This should ideally be at the basis of new housing arrangements -in which people are stimulated to meet, engage, survey and care- that social housing associations are developing, retrofitting and developing.
There has been a rapidly growing number of studies of the geographical aspects of happiness and well-being. Many of these studies have been highlighting the role of space and place and of individual and spatial contextual determinants of happiness. However, most of the studies to date do not explicitly consider spatial clustering and possible spatial spillover effects of happiness and well-being. The few studies that do consider spatial clustering and spillovers conduct the analysis at a relatively coarse geographical scale of country or region. This article analyses such effects at a much smaller geographical unit: community areas. These are small area level geographies at the intra-urban level. In particular, the article presents a spatial econometric approach to the analysis of life satisfaction data aggregated to 1,215 communities in Canada and examines spatial clustering and spatial spillovers. Communities are suitable given that they form a small geographical reference point for households. We find that communities’ life satisfaction is spatially clustered while regression results show that it is associated to the life satisfaction of neighbouring communities as well as to the latter's average household income and unemployment rate. We consider the role of shared cultural traits and institutions that may explain such spillovers of life satisfaction. The findings highlight the importance of neighbouring characteristics when discussing policies to improve the well-being of a (small area) place.
An important consideration for future age-friendly cities is that older people are able to live in housing appropriate for their needs. While thermal comfort in the home is vital for the health and well-being of older people, there are currently few guidelines about how to achieve this. This study is part of a research project that aims to improve the thermal environment of housing for older Australians by investigating the thermal comfort of older people living independently in South Australia and developing thermal comfort guidelines for people ageing-in-place. This paper describes the approach fundamental for developing the guidelines, using data from the study participants’ and the concept of personas to develop a number of discrete “thermal personalities”. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) was implemented to analyse the features of research participants, resulting in six distinct clusters. Quantitative and qualitative data from earlier stages of the project were then used to develop the thermal personalities of each cluster. The thermal personalities represent di erent approaches to achieving thermal comfort, taking into account a wide range of factors including personal characteristics, ideas, beliefs and knowledge, house type, and location. Basing the guidelines on thermal personalities highlights the heterogeneity of older people and the context-dependent nature of thermal comfort in the home and will make the guidelines more user-friendly and useful. Original publication at MDPI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228402 © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI.
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