Senior co-housing communities offer an in-between solution for older people who do not want to live in an institutional setting but prefer the company of their age peers. Residents of co-housing communities live in their own apartments but undertake activities together and support one another. This paper adds to the literature by scrutinizing the benefits and drawbacks of senior co-housing, with special focus on the forms and limits of social support and the implications for the experience of loneliness. Qualitative fieldwork was conducted in eight co-housing communities in the Netherlands, consisting of document analysis, interviews, focus groups, and observations. The research shows that co-housing communities offer social contacts, social control, and instrumental and emotional support. Residents set boundaries regarding the frequency and intensity of support. The provided support partly relieves residents’ adult children from caregiving duties but does not substitute formal and informal care. Due to their access to contacts and support, few residents experience social loneliness. Co-housing communities can potentially also alleviate emotional loneliness, but currently, this happens to a limited degree. The paper concludes with practical recommendations for enhancing the benefits and reducing the drawbacks of senior co-housing. Original article at MDPI; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16193776
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In the Netherlands, almost everyone has an image of 1930s neighborhoods, post-war neighborhoods, and Vinex locations. That is very different for the neighborhoods with social housing apartments from the 1970s and 1980s. They are forgotten, hardly known, even professionally. And that is a problem because a wave of restructuring and densification projects is imminent for these areas. They are related to the post-war neighborhoods, but also have fundamentally different spatial characteristics. Moreover, within the fragmented practice of spatial development, there is little shared knowledge on plans in other municipalities or housing associations. Even less is known whether these neighborhoods offer space for tackling the persistent housing shortage and solving other major social challenges, such as energy, biodiversity, circularity and inclusion. It is time for an inventory, and this project undertakes the challenge.In the planning for these residential areas, municipalities, developers and housing corporations set the framework, but it is the urban development and architecture firms that have to translate this into concrete design solutions. We focus on these SMEs. With this research project, we map out the ambitions, challenges and opportunities of the restructuring of these residential areas in three steps: What type of plans and ambitions are there for these residential areas? To this end, we investigate cases by means of policy analyses of the environmental visions and area visions. What characterizes the spatial-social structure of these neighborhoods? To this end, we make a comparative spatial-social analysis of several cases, also in relation to pre-war and early post-war ones. What opportunities and challenges does their restructuring offer? To this end, we use the acquired insights to explore strategies in co-creation sessions with external partners. In this presentation, we will share some of the outputs of this process.
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In the Netherlands, there is an increasing need for collective forms of housing for older people. Such housing bridges the gap between the extremes of living in an institutionalised setting and remaining in their own house. The demand is related to the closure of many residential care homes and the need for social engagement with other residents. This study focuses on housing initiatives that offer innovative and alternative forms of independent living, which deviate from mainstream housing arrangements. It draws on recent literature on healthcare ‘rebels’ and further develops the concept of ‘rebellion’ in the context of housing. The main research question is how founders dealt with challenges of establishing and governing ‘rebellious’ innovative living arrangements for older people in the highly regulated context of housing and care in the Netherlands. Qualitative in-depth interviews with 17 founders (social entrepreneurs, directors and supervisory board members) were conducted. Founders encountered various obstacles that are often related to governmental and sectoral rules and regulations. Their stories demonstrate the opportunities and constraints of innovative entrepreneurship at the intersection of housing and care. The study concludes with the notion of ‘responsible rebellion’ and practical lessons about dealing with rules and regulations and creating supportive contexts. Original article at MDPI; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176235 And atachment "Supplementary Materials" (This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers "Age-Friendly Cities & Communities: State of the Art and Future Perspectives")
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Er is een toenemende behoefte aan collectieve woonvormen voor ouderen die tussen zelfstandig wonen en verpleegzorg in zitten. Maar het stichten van nieuwe woonvormen voor ouderen stuit bij ondernemers op problemen: de hoeveelheid aan te betrekken partijen en de landelijke en eigen, interne regelgeving worden als belemmering ervaren voor de ruimte om te ondernemen. Daarnaast blijkt dat het betrekken van (toekomstige) bewoners lastig is, hetgeen juist van groot belang is om het aanbod goed op hun wensen, de marktvraag, aan te laten sluiten. Als gevolg van deze belemmeringen komen initiatieven onbevredigend van de grond en is het huidige aanbod beperkt en/of onvoldoende passend bij de woonwensen van ouderen. Veel ouderen dreigen nu tussen wal en schip te raken. De roep om zelfstandige woonvormen met zorgvoorzieningen vanuit het veld wordt steeds groter. Om (succesvol) nieuwe woonvormen op te kunnen zetten, is het voor ondernemers primair van belang dat de governance op het gebied van regelruimte en inspraak verbeterd wordt. Het doel van dit onderzoek is het beantwoorden van de volgende onderzoeksvraag: ● Hoe kunnen belemmeringen die ondernemers ervaren in de governance van woonvormen worden weggenomen, in het bijzonder op het gebied van het organiseren van inspraak en het omgaan met regelgeving? Verantwoorde rebellie is hierbij het uitgangspunt: ruimte voor ondernemende partijen om het binnen de geldende wet- en regelgeving weloverwogen anders te doen, onder de voorwaarde van het leveren van kwalitatief goede woonruimte waar welzijnsdiensten en zorg mogelijk zijn, met aandacht voor empowerment en zelfstandigheid. De uitkomsten van dit onderzoek bieden ondernemers praktische tools bij het opzetten van nieuwe woonvormen voor ouderen en levert de volgende producten op: ● Handreiking Regels, Regelruimte en Besluitvorming. ● Adviesrapport Inspraak: hoe regel je dat? ● Infographic met betrekking tot het regelen van goed toezicht. ● Manifest Woonzorgvoorziening van de Toekomst voor een succesvolle governance.
