Housing for Older Adults: New Lessons from the Past

Abstract

Despite the fact that it has been nearly 40 years since the first residents moved into the first leisure-oriented retirement communities (LORCs), housing issues remain an important component of gerontological discussions. A part of the reason is that, although much progress has been made, we still do not have a coherent housing policy nor do we even agree that one is necessary. LORCs are among many different housing alternatives that could provide direction in the formulation of such a policy. Using data collected in the late 1970s through the early 1990s, this article explores the lessons learned.

Intra-regional residential movement of the elderly: testing a suburban-to-urban migration hypothesis

“…Aging in place has been the widely observed phenomenon of rising older populations in suburbs, also called the "graying of the suburbs" (Gutowski and Field 1979). It was reported that the elderly overwhelmingly prefer to age in place, particularly in their single-family homes (Folts et al 2002). Thus, it is often believed that the elderly move only when they have serious health problems or economic difficulty that forces them to move (Clark and White 1990;Golant 1975;Streib 2002).…”

Alternative Housing and Care Arrangements: The Evidence

“…Hunt et al identified four types of leisure-oriented retirement community (LORCs) (Folts and Muir, 2002), which catered for predominantly healthy, often relatively young residents; and continuing care retirement centres (or communities), which catered for a mixture of healthy and frail older residents. In addition to specially-designed communities, naturally-occurring retirement communities (NORCs) can develop through the ageing of the local population or by the out-migration of younger people (Phillips et al, 2001).…”

“…However, these need to fit the specific economic and social context. For example, collective living arrangements are less popular in the UK (Heywood et al, 2002) or the US (Folts and Muir, 2002) than in mainland Europe.…”

The Nature of Roles on Health and Well-Being of Older Adults in Congregant Living

“…It is an "ecological transition that can take place at any point throughout the lifespan" (Oswald et al, 2002, p. 284) [9]. Folts & Muir (2002) [10] report that a number of researchers have found that elderly housing patterns are indistinguishable from general housing patterns (Oswald et al, 2002 [9]; Folts & Streib, 1994 [11]; Golant, 1992 [12]; Lawton 1975 [13]; Mangum, 1994 [14]; Pynoos, 1990 [15]; Streib, Folts & Hilker, 1984 [16]). …”

“…Folts and Muir (2002) [10] report migrants aging in place expressed high levels of satisfaction with their current location. The researchers found that the retirees who are most likely to be relocated are those with the fewest connections, those with the least compatible lifestyle and those with the economic, health and psychic resources to move.…”