Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities: Scoping Review

Abstract

Background As Canada’s population ages, there is a need to explore community-based solutions to support older adults. Naturally occurring retirement communities (NORCs), defined in 1986 as buildings or areas not specifically designed for, but which attract, older adults and associated NORC supportive service programs (NORC-SSPs) have been described as potential resources to support aging in place. Though the body of literature on NORCs has been growing since the 1980s, no synthesis of this work has been conducted to date. Objective The goal of this scoping review is to highlight the current state of NORC literature to inform future research and offer a summarized description of NORCs and how they have supported, and can support, older adults to age in place. Methods Using a published framework, a scoping review was conducted by searching 13 databases from earliest date of coverage to January 2022. We included English peer- and non–peer-reviewed scholarly journal publications that described, critiqued, reflected on, or researched NORCs. Aging-in-place literature with little to no mention of NORCs was excluded, as were studies that recruited participants from NORCs but did not connect findings to the setting. A qualitative content analysis of the literature was conducted, guided by a conceptual framework, to examine the promise of NORC programs to promote aging in place. Results From 787 publications, we included 64 (8.1%) articles. All publications were North American, and nearly half used a descriptive research approach (31/64, 48%). A little more than half provided a specific definition of a NORC (33/64, 52%); of these, 13 (39%) used the 1986 definition; yet, there were discrepancies in the defined proportions of older adults that constitute a NORC (eg, 40% or 50%). Of the 64 articles, 6 (9%) described processes for identifying NORCs and 39 (61%) specifically described NORC-SSPs and included both external partnerships with organizations for service delivery (33/39, 85%) and internal resources such as staff, volunteers, or neighbors. Identified key components of a NORC-SSP included activities fostering social relationships (25/64, 39%) and access to resources and services (26/64, 41%). Sustainability and funding of NORC-SSPs were described (27/64, 42%), particularly as challenges to success. Initial outcomes, including self-efficacy (6/64, 9%) and increased access to social and health supports (14/64, 22%) were cited; however, long-term outcomes were lacking. Conclusions This review synthesizes the NORC literature to date and demonstrates that NORC-SSPs have potential as an alternative model of supporting aging in place. Longitudinal research exploring the impacts of both NORCs and NORC-SSPs on older adult health and well-being is recommended. Future research should also explore ways to improve the sustainability of NORC-SSPs.

Optimizing Older Adult Mental Health in Support of Healthy Ageing: A Pluralistic Framework to Inform Transformative Change across Community and Healthcare Domains

“…When supportive home care and community support are embedded into these environments, older adults are able to remain living in the community as long as possible and avoid or delay the transition to an LTC facility. Similarly, innovative architecture (signage, color, space, light, and views of nature) in LTC facilities can better enable social interactions, physical activity, and time spent in nature [ 28 , 140 , 159 ], contributing to mental wellness and overall life satisfaction [ 160 ].…”

Research Status and Trends in Retirement Communities: A bibliometric Analysis

“…The study found that the most discussed article was " social environment" and that NORCs are a perfect model for healthy aging. Parniak et al , ( 2022) summarized the current research on NORCs with 64 articles and described how NORCs can support aging in place for older adults. The study suggested that NORC-SSPs have the potential to be an alternative model for supporting aging in place.…”

“…Jiaxuan et al ( 2022) provided an overview of NORC and found that the social environment provides the necessary moral support and material motivation for older adults to live actively in NORC. Parniak et al ( 2022) conducted a scoping review of NORC and summarized the current state of the relevant literature. Secondly, NORC Supportive Service Programs (NORC-SSP) were studied (Greenfield, 2014).…”

Supporting Older Adults' Social Inclusion and Well‐Being in Neighbourhoods: The Social Hub Model

“…New concepts such as "aging in community" (AIC) emphasise and expand the understanding of place beyond the home to include the community and neighbourhood levels (Thomas & Blanchard, 2009). Previous research on models supporting AIC has explored community-dwelling facilities, retirement villages, the village model, and naturally occurring retirement communities (Grant, 2007;Greenfield et al, 2013;McDonough & Davitt, 2011;Parniak et al, 2022;Scharlach et al, 2012). In this study, we focus on a local social innovation, the Social Hub model, which is a local innovation developed to support community building at a neighbourhood level.…”