Study protocol for Prospective RELOC-AGE: A longitudinal mixed-methods study exploring associations of housing, relocation and active and healthy ageing in Sweden (Preprint)
BACKGROUND Background: While housing and neighbourhood features have the potential to impact opportunities for active ageing, there is a lack of knowledge related to how older people reason regarding their housing situation and how housing and fulfilment of relocation are associated with active and healthy ageing. OBJECTIVE Objective: The objectives of Prospective RELOC-AGE are to study housing choices and relocation and explore effects on active and healthy ageing among men and women 55 years or older in Sweden considering relocation. METHODS Methods: The estimated sample (n=2800) will include people aged 55+ being listed for relocation at either of two housing companies: a local public housing company in Southern Sweden and a national condominium provider (NCP). Prospective RELOC-AGE has a two-level longitudinal mixed-methods design and include quantitative surveys (implemented by a professional survey company) and a telephone interview for a baseline data collection in 2021, with follow-ups with the same procedures in 2022 and 2023. The survey and interviews include questions related to present housing and neighbourhood, relocation plans and expectations, a range of perspectives on active and healthy ageing, and demographics. Linking to national registers will provide additional data on e.g., home help and health care use, objective housing and neighbourhood characteristics. The study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04765696 [1]. To explore what housing attributes older adults considering relocation find important, and to what extent, when making their decisions on housing, we will develop a Discrete Choice Experiment to be implemented with a subsample of participants. Further, a Grounded Theory (GT) approach will be applied to collect in-depth interview data from participants who have moved to another dwelling, within 6 months after the move. A follow-up interview 12 months later will focus on participants´ deepened experience over time in terms of fulfilled expectations relocation experiences. RESULTS Results: As of submission of this protocol (June 2021) recruitment has commenced with approximately n=960 respondents to the survey and with ongoing telephone interviews. We anticipate recruitment and data collection based on surveys and interviews to continue during 2021. CONCLUSIONS Conclusions: Prospective RELOC-AGE has the capacity to generate new policy-relevant knowledge on associations of housing, relocation and active and healthy ageing. Such knowledge is relevant for the development of proactive approaches to housing in old age on the individual, group as well as societal levels. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04765696