Assessing the Social Bonds of Elderly Neighbors: The Roles of Length of Residence, Crime Victimization, and Perceived Disorder

Starting from the rationale that elderly urban residents tend to be “neighborhood‐bound,” this study examines the relationship between age or aging and local social bonds (friendship, social cohesion and trust, informal social control, and participation in local organizations). Specifically, is the level of local bonding among elderly urban residents (age 65 and over) greater than that of the younger cohorts (17–35, 34–49, and 50–64)? Additionally, two specific hypotheses are constructed to examine the determinants of local social bonds among elderly urban residents: the systemic approach, regarding length of residence; and the social‐disorganization approach, regarding crime victimization and perceived disorder. Using Chicago data collected in 1995, the analysis found a substantial difference between the elderly cohort and each of the younger cohorts in only the friendship category of local social bonds. The other results show that in a sample of elderly urban residents, length of residence is the only significant, positive factor in local friendship, and that the two disorder predictors, physical and social, play a substantial role in weakening two types of local social bonds, social cohesion and trust and informal social control.     

Communication in assisted living

This study of communication in an Assisted Living Facility (ALF) focuses on staff's interpretive frameworks and situational tactics for managing elderly residents. It is based on interviews with staff and residents in an ALF together with ethnographic fieldwork. As in other quasi-total institutions, staff members engage in control as well as care, monitoring residents for compliance with rules and directives. Residents, aware of the threat of being moved to a nursing home, also monitor their own behavior and cognition in comparison to other residents. Other communication issues include the infantilization of the elderly by staff, and the race, class, and ethnic prejudices of residents.     

Determinants of residential group development and social control

The present research is concerned with the effects of architecturally determined residential group size on the development of social groups and norms of social control over shared interior spaces. Previous research has revealed a positive relationship between residential group size and the importance of residential group formation as a moderator variable in the numerosity crowding-relationship. It was predicted that residents of a long-corridor dormitory (36–40 per floor) would be less likely to form social groups and convert shared public spaces to group-controlled semiprivate interaction loci than residents of a short-corridor dormitory (60–63 per floor subdivided into clusters of approximately 20 by design features). A series of interview, observational, and field experimental studies yielded data supporting this hypothesis. Long-corridor residents expressed lower feelings of control over what happened to them in shared interior spaces and reported that they exerted less group-derived social control over hallway space than did short-corridor residents. In contrast to long-corridor residents, subjects residing in the short-corridor design were more likely to report that other areas of their floor were under the proprietary interests of neighbors and their patterns of space use reflected this perception. Long-corridor residents were also found to be less socially responsive to another person's presence in shared areas over which they exercised less social control than did short-corridor residents. The results are discussed in terms of the inhibiting effect of large group size on the development of residential social control and the ability of residents to regulate local social contact.     

Resource allocations to the aged according to greatest social need

The purposes of the study reported on in this article were: (a) to explore the measurement of social need among the elderly, and (b) to develop an appropriate method for including social need in funding allocation procedures. Interview responses from over 4,000 randomly selected elderly persons were used to identify the demographic correlates of those having the most restrictions in their every-day lives. Procedures for intrastate allocations were developed using variables suggested by the Older Americans Act and by research to explain variance in activities of daily living. Variables tested for the model were: age, income, living arrangement, gender, ethnicity, area of residence, occupation, hospitalization, years in the neighborhood, language at home, and utilization of senior services. Prediction formula weights were adjusted (magnitude of beta i/sigma magnitude of beta i) to allocate resources to the proportions of 10 "high-need" groups residing in each planning area: the population aged 75 and older, the proportion of hospital discharges of elderly patients, elderly females, elderly non-Caucasians, the elderly not completing high school, elderly farm workers, elderly urban residents, a proportion for participation in senior services, for low-income elderly persons, and for the elderly not living with their spouses. Compared to current systems, the proposed procedure provides a closer fit to the actual needs of the elderly.     

Who Pays for Seniors Housing and Care Communities? Evidence from the Residents Financial Survey

To examine the financial characteristics of residents in assisted living and independent living communities and to see how they currently pay for their care arrangements, we surveyed 2,617 residents in assisted living and independent living communities. We asked them how they pay for their current costs and verified their answers by examining self-reported information on their cost and income. Residents stated that they are largely paying for their community costs independently. Approximately one third of respondents reported using their assets and income to cover their current costs. The data supported the notion that individuals living in assisted living and independent living communities are largely mid- to high-income elderly. However, the cross-sectional analysis showed that length of time in the community was positively associated with paying for their expenses independently out of income, after controlling for many confounders including age, education, and lifetime earnings to try to rule out differential longevity and differential selection over time. Further longitudinal analysis is needed to understand the cause and the implications of the positive correlation between ability to pay one's bills out of income and the length of time in the community before conclusions about spend-down can be made.     

An examination of the locus of desired control among young‐old and old‐old nursing home patients (1)

This research examined the locus of desired control among a sample of 218 nursing home residents. Two issues were addressed: (a) What is the predictive impact on locus of desired control of education, gender, race, functional ability, subjective health and length of stay among the residents in each of the two age groups? and (b) Was there a difference in the locus of desired control among the young‐old (74 years or less) and old‐old residents (75 years or more)? A discriminant analysis revealed that among the 95 young‐old residents, greater desire for control, internality, was associated with poorer functional abilities, poorer subjective health and longer lengths of stay. Among the 123 old‐old residents, greater desire for control was assciated only with poorer functional abilities and poorer subjective health. Further, a significantly greater proportion of old‐old residents had greater locus of desired control, 59 percent, in comparison to only 43 percent of the young‐old residents who expressed greater locus of desired control.     

Residential Location and Proximity to Children Among Impaired Elderly Parents1

Abstract The availability of adult children as potential caregivers is particularly critical to the rural elderly because of the dearth of health and human services in rural areas. This paper analyzes proximity to adult children among a large sample of older persons with some degree of functional impairment, employing four residence categories and two indicators of proximity: coresidence with a child, and residence within a half-hour's travel time. Results show that older residents of large cities are most likely to live with children and that large-city and farm residents are more likely than small-city or rural nonfarm residents to live near children. Implications regarding the potential for family caregiving for the impaired elderly are discussed.     

Resource Allocations to the Aged According to Greatest Social Need

The purposes of the study reported on in this article were: (a) to explore the measurement of social need among the elderly, and (b) to develop an appropriate method for including social need in funding allocation procedures. Interview responses from over 4,000 randomly selected elderly persons were used to identify the demographic correlates of those having the most restrictions in their everyday lives. Procedures for intrastate allocations were developed using variables suggested by the Older Americans Act and by research to explain variance in activities of daily living. Variables tested for the model were: age, income, living arrangement, gender, ethnicity, area of residence, occupation, hospitalization, years in the neighborhood, language at home, and utilization of senior services. Prediction formula weights were adjusted (|ß_i|/Σ|ß_i|) to allocate resources to the proportions of 10 "high-need" groups residing in each planning area: the population aged 75 and older, the proportion of hospital discharges of elderly patients, elderly females, elderly non-Caucasians, the elderly not completing high school, elderly farm workers, elderly urban residents, a proportion for participation in senior services, for low-income elderly persons, and for the elderly not living with their spouses. Compared to current systems, the proposed procedure provides a closer fit to the actual needs of the elderly.     

Role conflicts & coping strategies in caregiving. A symbolic interactionist view

Institutional health care delivery is characterized by interdependency among caregivers and between caregivers and care receivers, which leads to role conflicts. This article examines role conflicts and coping strategies of health care aides who are faced with differing expectations of RNs and residents. Guided by a symbolic interactionist perspective, ethnographic data from 12 RNs, 15 health care aides, and 32 nursing home residents of Italian-Catholic and Anglo-Saxon descent in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was gathered. Results showed that health care aides differed in how they handled role conflict and their elderly clients' concerns. Health care aides were more likely to reject conflicting role expectations from residents than from RNs.     

High-Tech Amenities for the Elderly: The Technological Assistance Needs of Elderly Koreans Aging at Home

This study builds on existing literature regarding residential technological systems and the elderly. This study investigates elderly Koreans’ needs for technological systems in their residential environments and makes appropriate suggestions for creating high-tech amenities to support their aging at home. This study surveyed 60 elderly Koreans and presented them with 5 categories of 24 technological systems to evaluate. Results of this study show that participants were willing to adapt technological systems in their residential environment without any technophobia. In terms of their needs, the participants ranked the safety and security system category first, the indoor environment control system category second, and the health-related system category third. The results of this study suggest that residential environments, including individual housing and apartment properties, should incorporate technological systems to extend elderly residents’ independent living at home.     

Naturally Occurring Retirement Community-Supportive Service Program: an example of devolution

Devolution is defined as the transfer of power or authority from a central government to a local government. This article addresses federal policies on housing for the elderly and the devolution of funding for federal senior housing and describes two aspects of devolution of federal housing policy for the elderly. One, it points out the decreasing interest in senior housing by federal authorities as indicated by the decreased amount of funds allocated for this purpose. Two, it emphasizes the need for supportive, assistive services for residents of senior housing and how federal funds have not addressed this need adequately or sufficiently. As a consequence, there have emerged Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs) in New York State, a housing arrangement that provides supportive and health services to all eligible residents. The article concludes with a discussion of policy implications and the need for additional research before replicating this model.     

Hong Kong and China in 1997

In 1997, Hong Kong changes from a British colony to a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. While officially it has been agreed that the status change should not alter the economic or social conditions in the territory substantially, many people believe that residents' lives will be considerably affected. Hong Kong society has always been highly mobile and fluid in terms of migration, and it is only very recently that over half of the population have been born in the tenitory Many elderly people in Hong Kong were bom elsewhere and many Hong Kong families are fragmented, with members living in China, elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, North America, Australia, and Britain. The potential impact of 1997 on the lives and conditions of elderly residents is only now forming a focus of concern. This article considers what may happen in the closing years of this century and early next when the SAR emerges. There is already growing popular belief that, for financial and social reasons, some elderly people are going back to China for their retirement. However, evidence from a survey of 419 noninstitutionalized respondents found relatively few expressing a desire or willingness to retire to China. This article concludes with a discussion of why this may be so. A major reason may be that, with the increasing ease of visits between Hong Kong and China, Hong Kong elderly people might feel more comfortable with alternately living in China and Hong Kong instead of taking the bold decision of permanently living in China.     

Chapter 6. Post-Occupancy Evaluation of a Life-Care Community for the Aged in Israel

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an advanced housing arrangement for elderly people and an innovative method of Combined Post-Occupancy Evaluation to evaluate it. The method is based on what we developed and found to be a useful checklist of housing-related needs-physical-functional and psycho-social-of elderly people. According to our findings, the fulfillment of the psycho-social needs has first priority in determining the satisfaction of the elderly with their environment. The evaluation method combines a two-fold professional evaluation and an evaluation by the users. The results of the evaluation lead to several practical recommendations, including a recommended reduction of the resources devoted to public areas in old-age homes and an increase of the investments in the individual housing units, in which most of the needs of the residents are fulfilled.     

Psychosocial Well-Being of the Elderly and Their Perception of Matured Estate in Singapore

This article explores various relationships between the elderly's psychosocial well-being and components of aging-friendly community (continuity, compensation, connection, challenge, and contribution), in order to understand their perception of a matured estate and to discuss implications in housing neighborhood urban design. Interviews with elderly residents living in Bukit Merah (Redhill), one of the matured housing estates in Singapore with a high percentage of elderly residents, were conducted to understand how eldercare infrastructure and social spaces developed within the fabric of a high-rise, high-density public housing estate can support or inhibit their psychosocial well-being, as indicated by the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Our results postulate that different groups of elderly form friendships and participate in activities in both formal social service centers and informal public spaces. The friendships formed in these places and the convenience of amenities around their houses may affect their perception of their current residences. While the elderly residents are generally satisfied with physical infrastructure, a comprehensive, integrated urban design is further needed to facilitate physical activities, social interactions, and active aging in the elderly in order to enhance their psychosocial well-being.     

Sibling Roles in the Lives of Older Group Home Residents with Intellectual Disability: Working with Staff to Safeguard Wellbeing

Abstract

When parents die, siblings of older people with intellectual disability are likely to take responsibility for oversight of their wellbeing and negotiation with formal support services. This study explored the roles siblings played in the lives of older people with intellectual disability who live in group homes, and the relationships between residents’ siblings and group home staff. The siblings of 13 group home residents and the 17 supervisory staff associated with these services were interviewed, initially face-to-face and then intermittently by phone over a period of three years. Data were analysed using an inductive analytical approach. Siblings valued the relationship with their brother or sister with intellectual disability and played a significant role in safeguarding their wellbeing. Sibling–staff relationships fluctuated over time, sometimes becoming tense and difficult. Few protocols guided these relationships. A principle-based framework could facilitate negotiation between staff and siblings about expectations of communication and decision making.     

Housing Concepts For and By the Elderly: From Subjects of Design to a Design Resource

ABSTRACT

The perception of elderly residents as a homogeneous group is challenged by the diversification of lifestyles and emphasis on individuality in housing. Recently, there has been a rise in Finland in housing projects initiated by groups of elderly people, where the seniors themselves are seeking to fill in qualitative gaps in the offering of housing. This article presents a comparative analysis of four senior housing concepts that represent both a producer-driven (“for the elderly”) and a resident-driven (“by the elderly”) approach. The study shows that elderly people can be a resource for residential development and that this necessitates a different “design logic” than in conventional senior housing.     

Relation between hand grip strength,respiratory muscle strength and spirometric measures in male nursing home residents

Abstract

Adverse-outcomes related to sarcopenia are mostly mentioned as physical disability. As the other skeletal muscles, respiratory muscles may also be affected by sarcopenia. Respiratory muscle strength is known to affect pulmonary functions. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the relations between extremity muscle strength, respiratory muscle strengths and spirometric measures in a group of male nursing home residents. Among a total of 104 male residents, residents with obstructive measures were excluded and final study population was composed of 62 residents. Mean age was 70.5?±?6.7 years, body mass index: 27.7?±?5.3?kg/m² and dominant hand grip strength: 29.7?±?6.5?kg. Hand grip strength was positively correlated with maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP) and maximal expiratory pressure (MEP) (r?=?0.35, p?<?0.01 and r?=?0.26, p?<?0.05, respectively). In regression analysis, the only factor related to MIP was hand grip strength; among spirometric measures only parameter significantly related to grip strength was peak cough flow (PCF). The association of PCF with grip strength disappeared when MIP alone or “MIP and MEP” were included in the regression analysis. In the latter case, PCF was significantly associated only with MIP. We found peripheric muscle strength be associated with MIP and PCF but not with MEP or any other spirometric parameters. The relation between peripheral muscle strength and PCF was mediated by MIP. Our findings suggest that sarcopenia may affect inspiratory muscle strength earlier or more than the expiratory muscle strength. Sarcopenia may cause decrease in PCF in the elderly, which may stand for some common adverse respiratory complications.     

Naturally Occurring Retirement Community-Supportive Service Program

Summary

Devolution is defined as the transfer of power or authority from a central government to a local government. This article addresses federal policies on housing for the elderly and the devolution of funding for federal senior housing and describes two aspects of devolution of federal housing policy for the elderly. One, it points out the decreasing interest in senior housing by federal authorities as indicated by the decreased amount of funds allocated for this purpose. Two, it emphasizes the need for supportive, assistive services for residents of senior housing and how federal funds have not addressed this need adequately or sufficiently. As a consequence, there have emerged Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs) in New York State, a housing arrangement that provides supportive and health services to all eligible residents. The article concludes with a discussion of policy implications and the need for additional research before replicating this model.     

The directionality and age selectivity of the health-migration relation: evidence from sequences of disability and mobility in the United States

Evidence regarding the effects of health status on migration are mixed, with some concluding that there is a positive relation while others conclude a negative relation. This study examines the analytical bases for conflicting findings and proposes a model of the health-migration relation which allows for age selectivity, nonlinearities, interactions, and dynamic effects. Often in migration research we focus on migrant-nonmigrant differentials, which helps us to understand the cross-sectional differences between the 2 groups of persons, but it does little to elucidate the complex process by which nonmigrants become migrants. The sequence of migration and health events, from the US National Health Interview Survey from 1979-1980, show that for the population under age 45, there is little temporal connection between migration and health status changes. 2/3 of the younger population with at least 1 health or migration event migrated only, with health status changes neither preceding nor following the migration. Since the migration and health events for these persons are not associated in time, there is little basis for positing strong relations of either direction for the nonelderly. The age groups for which migration and health events are connected in time are those over age 45, and the temporal proximity becomes even more marked for the elderly. Among the elderly, the migrant-only group constituted only 10% of those with at least 1 event. As expected, for the elderly the dominant relation is health deterioration after migration, the pattern displayed by 65% of the elderly with events in the last 5 years. The elderly are also more likely to be in the Destabilized Migrant category, experiencing health status declines both before and after migration. This is also consistent with the theory that the elderly in poor health at the time of migration will be more likely to be stressed by their migration and experience further deteriorations in health. The conditional probabilities indicate that health status declines are unlikely to precipitate immediate migrations, except for those with pre-existing serious conditions or more severe activity limitations.     

Measures of Restoration in Geriatric Care Residences

Abstract

In this paper, we have studied how elderly people's frame of mind influences their response to experiencing nature, measured in terms of blood pressure, pulse rate, concentration and results from protocols. Two theories concerning the importance of psychological balance have been put forward earlier by Lawton and Kiiller, both of whom maintain that the surrounding everyday environment is one of the keys to a harmonious existence. We present findings supporting the theory that the positive experience of natural surroundings per se has a balancing and healing effect.

We have found that the people most affected by their surroundings are those with the greatest psycho-physiological imbalance. When the balance tilts, the balancing effect of the green experience can restore the individual to a state of better harmony. Time spent in the outdoors is, thus, especially important for individuals who easily lose their equilibrium or find it difficult to make compensatory changes to restore harmony on their own.

The research project is an intervention study in which fifteen elderly individuals living at a home for very old people participated. Their power of concentration, blood pressure and heart rate were measured before and after an hour of rest in a garden and in an indoor setting, respectively. Seven elderly people were randomly chosen to have their first series of tests in a garden, while eight elderly people had their first series of tests indoors. The results indicate that power of concentration increases for very old people after a visit in a garden outside the geriatric home in which they live, as compared to resting indoors in their favorite room.

The results did not show any effects on blood pressure or heart rate.

However, when we compared these results with the background variables, we found interesting correlations. Background variables included how often they took part in social activities, showed helpfulness toward other residents in group activities and tolerance/critique of other residents. After a factor analysis, the background variables formed three distinct factors, one of which showed significant correlation with blood pressure and heart rate: the factor psycho-physiological balance, with the variables “degree of tolerance,” “degree of helpfulness” and “frequency of hospital visits.” Elderly people with low psycho-physiological balance, that is, who had low tolerance of other residents, were not helpful in group activities and had a high frequency of hospital visits, were most affected by a stay in a garden, as could be measured in changes in heart rate and blood pressure. The results may be interpreted as showing that a garden can restore an elderly person with low psycho-physiological balance to a state of better harmony.

The present study show, first, that an outdoor visit is important for recovery from stress and fatigue and, second, that the improvement is especially significant for the most susceptible. Thus, it is of particular importance that weak groups, such as elderly in great need of care, have access to an outdoor space. Such groups are likely to include many people who are in psycho-physiological imbalance.