Social and physical environments in senior communities: the Finnish experience

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss residents' views of social and physical environments in a co‐housing and in a senior housing setting in Finland. Also, the study aims to point out important connections between well‐being and built environment.Design/methodology/approachThe data include interviews and survey responses gathered in the cases. The results and analysis are presented at different case study levels, with the discussion and conclusions following this.FindingsThe findings show that the physical environment and common areas have an important role to activate residents. When well‐designed common areas exist, a higher level of engagement can be achieved by getting residents involved in the planning and running of activities.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper discusses residents' experiences in two Finnish housing settings and it focuses on the housing market in Finland.Practical implicationsThe findings encourage investors and housing operators to design and invest common areas which could activate residents and create social contacts. Also, investors have to pay attention to the way these developments are managed.Originality/valueThis study is the first to investigate the Finnish co‐housing setting and compare social and physical environments in a co‐housing and a senior house.

Folkhälsans seniorboende och aktivt åldrande – BoAktiv-studien

“…Som bäst kan boendemiljön och tillgänglig service öka möjligheterna för social samvaro samt främja social gemenskap och därmed stödja aktivt åldrande (Tyvimaa 2011;Nathan, Wood & Giles-Corti 2014). Aktivt åldrande är enligt världshälsoorganisationen WHO en process där man skapar de bästa möjligheterna till hälsa, delaktighet och trygghet i syfte att förbättra livskvaliteten hos människor som blir äldre.…”

“…Socialt boende kan främja aktivitet och socialt deltagande genom att stärka invånarnas sociala nätverk; det är uttryckligen genom den sociala aspekten som socialt boende kan förbättra välbefinnande och livskvalitet (Tyvimaa 2011). Gemenskapen fungerar bl.a.…”

“…Man har tidigare funnit att invånare i seniorboenden är högre utbildade och har bättre inkomster jämfört med majoriteten av befolkningen (Pedersen 2015;Glass 2009). Enligt tidigare forskning bor det vanligen fler kvinnor än män i seniorboenden (Choi 2004;Glass 2009;Tyvimaa 2011;Pedersen 2015;Lotvonen, Kyngäs, Koistinen, Bloigu & Elo 2018), så också i vår studie. Seniorboende upplevs ofta vara ett tryggt boendealternativ och eventuellt söker sig ensamboende kvinnor lättare till denna slags boendeform.…”

The Influence of Physical Environmental Qualities on the Social Climate of Supported Housing Facilities for People with Severe Mental Illness

“…While social-ecological approaches have been used on similar types of environments, such as sheltered care settings for the elderly, and have acknowledged the relevance of architectural and physical design features on people's well-being, the physical environment of supported housing facilities appears to be a neglected area of research (Fakhoury, Murray, Sheperd, & Priebe, 2002;Moos & Lemke, 1980). The literature on elderly facilities has shown that a greater quality in the overall design of the common areas and proximity to green common spaces fosters users' social involvement (Kweon, Sullivan, & Willey, 1998;Tyvimaa, 2010). Lawton (1970) states that housing design should provide privacy and, at the same time, possibilities for face to face contacts.…”

Neighbourhood satisfaction: responses from residents of green townships in Malaysia

“…Neighbourhoods are often social communities with considerable face-to-face interaction amongst members. Thus, environments with open spaces within or around residential areas play an important role in the communication that works as residents interact with each other (Tyvimaa, 2011;Krellenbergy et al, 2014;The Federal Town and Country Planning Development, 2010;Levy and Lee, 2011). Open spaces also encourage the interaction that benefits mental health as well as psychological advantages (Dawe and Millward, 2008).…”