scholarly journals PERCEPTIONS OF AGING IN PLACE: A FOCUS ON LOW INCOME AND OLDER ADULTS

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. 454-454
Author(s):  
C.R. Bolkan ◽  
B. Mandal ◽  
E. Kim
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Aging In Place ◽  
Perceptions Of Aging

scholarly journals Improvements of Disability Outcomes in CAPABLE Older Adults Differ by Financial Strain Status

2020 ◽  
pp. 073346482097555
Author(s):  
Minhui Liu ◽  
Qian-Li Xue ◽  
Laura Samuel ◽  
Laura N. Gitlin ◽  
Jack Guralnik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Aging In Place ◽  
Low Energy ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Financial Strain ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Home Based Intervention ◽  
Strain Status

The Community Aging in Place–Advancing Better Living for Elders (CAPABLE) program reduces disability in low-income older adults. In this study, we used CAPABLE baseline and 5-month data to examine whether its effects in reducing activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental ADLs (IADLs) difficulties differed by participants’ financial strain status. At baseline, participants with financial strain were more likely to report higher scores on depression ( p < .001), have low energy ( p < .001), and usually feel tired ( p = .004) compared with participants without financial strain, but did not differ in ADL/IADL scores. Participants with financial strain benefited from the program in reducing ADL (relative risk [RR]: 0.61, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.43, 0.86) and IADL disabilities (RR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.54, 0.87), compared with those with financial strain receiving attention control. Individuals with financial strain benefited more from a home-based intervention on measures of disability than those without financial strain. Interventions that improve disability may be beneficial for financially strained older adults.

Aging in Place of Vulnerable Older Adults: Person–Environment Fit Perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (11) ◽  
pp. 1327-1350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sojung Park ◽  
Yoonsun Han ◽  
BoRin Kim ◽  
Ruth E. Dunkle
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Research Effort ◽  
Aging In Place ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Senior Housing ◽  
Supportive Environment ◽  
Person Environment Fit ◽  
Poverty Status ◽  
The Impact

Based on the premise that the experience of aging in place is different for vulnerable subgroups of older adults compared with less vulnerable subgroups, we focus on low-income older adults as a vulnerable subgroup and senior housing as an alternative to a conventional, private home environment. Using the 2008 and 2010 waves of the Health Retirement Study, regression models determined the impact of person–environment (P-E) fit between poverty status and residence in senior housing on self-rated health. Consistent with the environmental docility hypothesis, findings show that, among low-income individuals, the supportive environment of senior housing plays a pronounced compensating role and may be a key to successful adaptation in aging. As the first research effort to empirically demonstrate the positive health effects of senior housing among socioeconomically vulnerable elders, our findings provide a much-needed theoretical and practical underpinning for policy-making efforts regarding vulnerable elders.

scholarly journals Challenges and Supports to Aging in Place in a Gentrifying Context

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 873-873
Author(s):  
Manish Kumar ◽  
Laura Richman
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Capital ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Aging In Place ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Neighborhood Change ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Age In Place

Abstract Neighborhoods play a central role in healthy aging, with changes to neighborhoods having a profound impact on older adults’ ability to age in place. Using gentrification as an indicator of neighborhood change and applying the theoretical framework of the Environmental Press model (Lawton and Nahemow, 1973), this study examined the relationship between changing environments, affordable housing, and environmental attributes that support and hinder the health and well-being of older adults. A qualitative, case-study approach was used to interview low-income, majority Black older adults in a gentrifying area of Washington DC. 32 individuals (16 in non-profit and 16 in for-profit affordable housing) aged 55 and older participated in semi-structured interviews on perceptions of gentrification, neighborhood change, and challenges and supports to aging in place. Transcripts were then analyzed using the framework method of analysis. Although participants generally reported that gentrification improved their neighborhood’s built environment, many attributed it to a decline in social capital. Affordable housing provided an ability to age in place, though participants expressed uncertainty over their long-term ability to age in the context of continuing change. These findings suggest that while the physical changes accompanying gentrification may support older adults’ ability to age in place, its detrimental impact on social capital further increases their risk for social isolation. While affordable housing may enable older adults to age in place, fostering a greater sense of permanence and well-being will require additional policies that both increase accessibility to the physical amenities provided by gentrification and preserve older adults’ social capital.

scholarly journals INTEREST GROUP SESSION—ENVIRONMENTAL GERONTOLOGY: PRECARIOUS AGING IN PLACE? CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON AGING IN CONTEXTS OF INSTABILITY

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S561-S562
Author(s):  
Jessica M Finlay ◽  
Jarmin C Yeh
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Hurricane Katrina ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Aging In Place ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Methodological Innovation ◽  
Macro Scale ◽  
Environmental Gerontology

Abstract Population aging and longevity in an era of immense environmental instability raises concerns about the precarity of aging and insecurity in later life. From home- and neighborhood-level insecurities to uncertainties generated by climate change or broad economic and sociopolitical upheaval across the globe, the factors contributing to instabilities relevant to older populations are heterogeneous in scale and cause. This symposium focuses on understanding older people’s needs and experiences in the context of unstable social, economic, political, and natural environments. The first paper investigates effects of socio-environmental disruption on the well-being, recovery, and resilience of older adults in Louisiana and Mississippi deeply affected by Hurricane Katrina. The second paper explores the confinement, exclusion, and loss of autonomy, as well as the creative negotiation and sociopolitical reclamation of space, among disabled older adults experiencing houselessness. The third paper discusses filmmaking with formerly homeless older adults as a method to engage marginalized individuals in community-based participatory research and better understand nuanced meanings of ‘home’. The fourth paper explores how transportation and technology can serve as both facilitators and barriers to accessibility and social connectivity among ethnically diverse low-income older adults. Altogether, the papers critically discuss novel scholarship and applied research in environmental gerontology from the micro to macro scale. The symposium inspires methodological innovation and critical research directions, and informs place-based policymaking to address diverse contexts of aging in place.

scholarly journals When More Than Exercise Is Needed to Increase Chances of Aging in Place: Qualitative Analysis of a Telehealth Physical Activity Program to Improve Mobility in Low-Income Older Adults (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathy VanRavenstein ◽  
Boyd H Davis
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Physical Therapy ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Aging In Place ◽  
Exercise Program ◽  
Therapy Program ◽  
Physical Therapy Program

BACKGROUND A telehealth-delivered physical activity program was implemented within two low-income older adult housing properties utilizing the Otago exercise program, a physical therapy program endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve balance and strengthening in community dwelling older adults and by the National Council on Aging as the highest level of evidence for fall prevention programs. Participants were also given Fitbit activity monitors to help track their activity. OBJECTIVE The goal of this project was to increase older adults’ daily physical activity in hopes of decreasing chronic disease morbidity, disability, and falls, and decrease social isolation. METHODS The Otago exercise program was conducted via telehealth twice weekly for 12 weeks. Participants also wore Fitbit activity trackers to encourage physical activity outside of the group classes. Postintervention qualitative interviews were conducted, recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using discourse analysis. RESULTS Twenty-one older adult participants from two low-income properties in Charleston, SC, participated in the 12-week telehealth physical therapy program. Postintervention qualitative interviews revealed that the two sites were very different in their participation in the program and their main concerns surrounding aging in place. One site had a community-oriented outlook and enjoyed participating in physical activity together; whereas, the other site had very few participants and referenced depression and social isolation as main concerns. CONCLUSIONS A telehealth physical therapy-led intervention to increase physical activity in low-income older adults aging in place was successfully implemented and attended; however, it became clear in postintervention qualitative interviews that social isolation and depression were prevalent and mental health needs to be addressed along with physical health to encourage successful aging in place.

Discover Wellness: Feasibility of a Health and Wellness Program for Aging in Place

2021 ◽  
Vol 75 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 7512505116p1-7512505116p1
Author(s):  
Jordan Thompson ◽  
Paula Costello
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Aging In Place ◽  
Vulnerable Population ◽  
Supportive Housing ◽  
Health And Wellness ◽  
Wellness Program ◽  
Primary Author

Abstract Date Presented 04/020/21 Low-income older adults are a vulnerable population who encounter many barriers to successfully aging in place. In this study, a 10-week Lifestyle Redesign® program, Discover Wellness, was implemented to determine its feasibility in promoting aging in place among low-income older adults residing in supportive housing. Innovative interventions such as Discover Wellness will help advance community OT practice regarding low-income older adults and aging in place. Primary Author and Speaker: Jordan Thompson Additional Authors and Speakers: Paula Costello

Aging Gracefully in Place: An Evaluation of the Capability of the CAPABLE© Approach

2021 ◽  
pp. 073346482110426
Author(s):  
Jill Breysse ◽  
Sherry Dixon ◽  
Jonathan Wilson ◽  
Sarah Szanton
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Aging In Place ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Health Improvement ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Adult Health ◽  
Age In Place ◽  
Home Based

As American adults live longer, society must prioritize effective strategies promoting safe aging-in-place and decreasing institutional health care costs. Social determinants of health, especially housing, critically influence older adult health, particularly for disadvantaged, low-income older adults. Johns Hopkins University developed Community Aging in Place—Advancing Better Living for Elders (CAPABLE©), a client-centered, home-based program to improve older adults’ function and capacity to age in place. This evaluation studied CAPABLE’s long-term effectiveness in four distinct locations in California, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. Seven months after CAPABLE, intervention group participants experienced greater improvements than the control group in activities of daily living limitations (2-point vs. 0.7-point improvement, p = .012), falls efficacy (8.9-point improvement vs. 0.1-point worsening, p = .012), depression (1.3-point improvement vs. 0.4-point worsening, p = .021), and pain (1.5-point improvement vs. 0.3-point worsening, p = .002). These results add to existing research on short-term effectiveness in urban locales, showing CAPABLE yields long-term health improvement for older adults in micropolitan and small urban locations, with different implementation organizations, housing stocks, and clients.

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