| Abstract: | Abstract This paper examines the linkages between housing and supportive services from the built environmental perspective. When it comes to linking supportive services, it is usually true that the wealthier an individual is the more private resources he or she has available to define a personal support system at every step in the aging process; the poorer the individual is, the fewer choices she or he has and the successful linkages of government subsidized housing, health and supportive services become more important to successful aging of that person. Low-income and aging individuals are the real testing ground for whether current policy allows holistic support linkages to occur and whether programs are available in both the quantity and quality to empower low-income older persons with options and support choices. The discussion that follows is limited to supportive services and aging in place in conventional housing and affordable purpose built assisted living programs and facilities; it omits institutional living. For low-income older persons, institutional care provides few if any housing choices or individual power to control support delivery, and thus linkages between cooperating support professionals and programs becomes increasingly moot. |
