Needs for Aging in Place: Views of Older Moroccan Adults in the Netherlands

Abstract

Background and Objectives Due to health and/or financial limitations, older migrants may become especially dependent on their neighborhoods, highlighting the importance of investigating their experiences. We explored older Moroccan adults’ views on the relative importance of neighborhood resources for aging in place. Research Design and Methods Thirty Moroccans aged ≥ 65 years residing in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht were interviewed and asked to perform a ranking task developed with the combined quantitative and qualitative Q methodology. They ranked the relative importance of 38 statements representing the World Health Organization’s eight global age-friendly cities domains, with explanation of their reasoning. By-person factor analysis was performed to identify factors representing distinct viewpoints, which were interpreted with reference to the interviewees’ comments. Results Four viewpoints were identified: “home sweet home”; “connected, well-informed, and engaged”; “suitable and affordable living”; and “a lively neighborhood.” The perceived importance of neighborhood resources for aging in place differed among viewpoints. Discussion and Implications Older Moroccan adults prioritize different neighborhood resources for aging in place. Our findings suggest that their diverse needs can be satisfied by enabling family to live in close proximity, providing diverse, inclusive neighborhoods with affordable, suitable housing, understandable information, social/cultural activities, and care services for vulnerable groups. Future studies may build on our findings to explore older (migrant) adults’ views on needs for aging in place in the Netherlands and other western countries.