Social capital in retirement villages: a literature review

Abstract

Retirement villages are a model of extra-care housing, offering purpose-designed housing that incorporates both care services and a range of non-care-related facilities and activities. These generate opportunities for formal and informal social activity, and promote community engagement, solidarity between residents, and active and independent ageing. Providers suggest that retirement villages are able to foster an environment rich in social capital. This study's purpose is to review and summarise key findings on the topic of social capital in retirement villages in the gerontological literature. Social capital is defined as both an individual attribute of single actors and a feature of communities as a whole. A clear conceptualisation of social capital is used to organise the reviewed studies along different dimensions: on an individual level, social networks, trustworthiness and obligations are differentiated, while the collective level distinguishes between system control, system trust and system morality. Thirty-four studies are reviewed. While retirement villages are generally described as friendly places with widespread helping behaviour where new friends are made, research has also highlighted the difficulty of socially integrating the frail and very old. While, in particular, social networks and system morality have received much attention, there is a clear need for future research into the other domains of social capital.

Legal Aspects of Social Infrastructure for Housing and Care for the Elderly—The Case of Slovenia

“…Others could benefit from housing-with-care solutions, such as social farming or retirement villages, which offer combined residential and care services and opportunities for social activities and interaction (Scharlach et al 2014;Buist et al 2018;de Bruin et al 2020). Such environments are friendlier and safer for older people than private homes, and at the same time, they allow them greater independence than residential care homes (Bernard et al 2012) at lower travel costs (Drobne and Bogataj 2017, 2022Szander et al 2017). Provision of LTC services in sheltered housing is also less expensive than in private homes (van Bilsen et al 2008), especially for older adults with reduced mobility (Frontier Economics 2010).…”

“…The term "housing-with-care" is used often to describe such accommodations (Gray and Worrledge 2018). In countries where forms of cohabitation for older people are already well established, they present extensive literature on the subject (Buys 2001;Croucher et al 2007;Evans 2009a;Schafer 2011;Scharlach et al 2014;Holland et al 2017;Schwitter 2020). However, the solutions found in this literature are not always applicable to other countries, where such concepts of cohabitation are still in development.…”

Condition of Community Livelihood Assets Around Muhammadiyah's Charity Business Towards Sustainable Livelihoods During Covid 19 in Taliwang, West Sumbawa

“…Small-land rice farmers can run other income alternatives outside of farming activities by reducing the difficulty of living to fulfill household livelihoods. Various alternative incomes for farmers to achieve household livelihoods by utilizing their social capital such as raising livestock, taking debt, and working together on agricultural land (Rahmadi & Santoso, 2016), (Schwitter, 2020), and(Djaha et al, 2018).…”

Business models, consumer experiences and regulation of retirement villages

“…There has been research about whether family ties are reduced or strengthened after moving to a village (Buys et al 2006), levels of satisfaction (Kennedy and Coates 2008), and financial decision-making (Finn et al 2011). A recent study in the United Kingdom theorised the benefits of village living as 'social capital' (Schwitter 2020). These studies were mostly published between 2003 and 2017.…”

“…Retirement villages are a popular choice for older people in the USA, New Zealand and Australia, and has increasing popularity in the United Kingdom (UK) (Schwitter, 2020). Retirement housing was originally created by non-profit organisations to meet the needs of older people.…”