A Push – Pull Framework for Modelling the Relocation of Retirees to a Retirement Village: The Australian Experience

Abstract

Although most older people prefer to age in place, nonetheless many do relocate, with a small proportion moving to retirement villages, which provide a purpose designed and built residential and lifestyle environment. Using factor analyses, path analyses, and a push^pull framework, the authors model the decision process of retirees in Australia in order to identify relationships between push^pull factors and predictor variables, using data from a national survey of retirement village residents. The push factors relate to change in lifestyle, home maintenance, social isolation, and health and mobility, whereas the pull factors relate to built environment and affordability, the locational attributes of villages, and the desire to maintain an existing lifestyle. The survey data also identify village attributes considered desirable or undesirable, or important or unimportant. Overall, resident satisfaction with moving is high.

Relocation to ordinary or special housing in very old age: aspects of housing and health

“…Predictors of relocation to ordinary housing were living in a large dwelling, recently being alone, living isolated in a rural area, and having lived in the dwelling for at least 10 years. Other frequently reported housing-related reasons for moving within ordinary housing are demanding maintenance of large garden or home (Hansen and Gottschalk 2006;Stimson and McCrea 2004;Sergeant and Ekerdt 2008). Summing up on this review on current literature on relocation in old age, the relation between aspects of health and relocation to institutional settings is well established, but we know less about the influence of aspects of housing.…”

“…Regarding relocation to ordinary housing in old age, previous research has identified a diversity of influential aspects. That is, older people do not move because of one but many reasons, with aspects of housing and health highly intertwined (Sergeant and Ekerdt 2008;Stimson and McCrea 2004). A retrospective study among people aged 60-89 who were living alone showed that moves made to another ordinary dwelling were more often motivated by aspects of housing than aspects of health (Oswald et al 2002).…”

Aging in rural communities: Older persons’ narratives of relocating in place to maintain rural identity

“…The narratives in this study explored the daily, lived experience of 16 persons aged 62-89 now living in town having moved from more rural settings and roots. While aging-in-place transitions often look at those moving from a setting into a retirement community (Stimson & McCrea, 2004) or the experiences of the oldest old as they relocate (Löfqvist, Granbom, Himmelsbach, Iwarsson, Oswald & Haak 2013), this study looked at a group that relocated within the same demographic region-moving from a rural farm to a more rural town or city-like setting. After the move, this group still remains dwelling in the community in their own apartments or homes -not in a retirement community or assisted-living facility.…”

“…Older persons can be reactive movers (relocating after an event or change in function -such as worsening of health or difficulty in home maintenance (Stimson & McCrea, 2004, 1453. These reactive movers have different outcomes than proactive ones (moves before negative changes occur -such as moving to a smaller or modified home or closer to healthcare; Kang & Pope, 2010).…”

Multifaceted Factors That Influence the Housing Decision-Making Process: A Pilot Study with Older Adults

“…For instance, a high prevalence of environmental barriers and accessibility problems exist in ordinary houses across industrialized countries [7]. This situation leads older adults to face the complexity of the so called "binary decision" between remaining at home or relocating to alternative forms of housing [8] to enable better consequences for health and well-being. It is only after the work of Wiseman [9] that the process by which older adults relocates or remains in their own homes and communities drove attention in literature [10].…”