The meaning of home to older adults transcends the financial and physical qualities of the brick and mortar. Gillsjo, Schwartz-Bardot, & Von Post (2011) suggested that “home was experienced as the place the older adult could not imagine living without, but also as the place one might be forced to leave” (p. 2). Notwithstanding an American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) survey (2010) which showed that the “majority of older adults polled preferred to age in place” (p. 1), the dilemma for many seniors is how to do so when faced with deteriorating housing conditions and “insufficient resources in retirement” (Neil & Neil, 2009, p. 53). In an effort to supplement inadequate retirement incomes, some seniors have capitalized on the “accumulated equity in their homes” (Kroleski, Ryan, & Bottiglieri, 2009, p. 37) through the provision of reverse mortgages. Other elderly homeowners faced with housing conditions that are considered unsafe or unacceptable by objective housing standards, have chosen to stay in their lifelong homes until they are forced to vacate, according to Dee Gillis, City of Gastonia Code Enforcement Administrator, (personal communication, March 23, 2011). Further, Oswald and Wahl (2005) suggested that many elderly homeowners have become oblivious to potential hazards and threats within the home, and have adapted to those environmental obstacles. While the purpose of housing standards and reverse mortgages may be to promote livability in existing housing, the unintended consequences of both may inevitably serve to displace elderly homeowners. Consequently, this paper will examine existing housing quality standards developed by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and by one local mun...
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...ege, Center for Retirement Research Web site http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/2/27/46263009.pdf
Nahemow, L. (2000). The ecological theory of aging: Powell Lawton’s legacy. In R. L. Rubenstein, M. Moss, & M. H. Kleban (Eds.), The many dimensions of aging (pp. 22-40). New York: Springer.
Neil, B. A. & Neil, B. A. (2009, June). Is a reverse mortgage a viable option for baby boomers? Journal of Business and Economics Research, 7(6), 53-58.l
Oswald, F., & Wahl, H.-W. (2005). Dimensions of the meaning of home. In G. D. Rowles & H. Chaudhury (Eds.), Home and Identity in Late Life: International Perspectives (pp. 21-45). New York: Springer.
Travis, L. (2010, April). Protecting elderly homeowners: Reverse equity mortgages as a foreclosure intervention tool. Retrieved March 24, 2011 from http://academicarchive.snhu.edu/bitstream/handle/10474/1649/sced2010travis.pdf?sequence=2
A sense of privacy is an important characteristic of a home-like environment. As Cristofetti, Gennai, and Rodeschini describe it, “The home has always represented and symbolized the passage from the external world to the internal world, from the public sphere to the private one” (2011). The décor a person fills one’s house with makes it their home, as their personality and choices are intertwined with the space (Cristofetti, Gennai, & Rodeschini, 2011). By building small homes where residents can have real privacy and can decorate their own rooms, the Green Houses provide nursing home spaces that are truly home-like, rather than
Jacobsen, L. A., Kent, M., Lee, M., & Mather, M. (2001). America's aging population. Population Bulletin, 66(1).
It is a well-known fact most Americans seniors would prefer to age in their own homes instead of moving into senior living communities. Meeting seniors where they are is a trend that will most likely affect assisted living facilites in the future. One of the main focuses from providers is being patient centerd. Meaning working with the patient to ensure that the best possible care is given. Providers are working with patients and offereing more services within their homes. Another trend that we will see in assisted living facilites is a competive pressure. According to the National Investment Center for Senior Housing and Care, competition housing is an increasing trend that is affecting living situtions for the elderly
Hiller, S. M., & Barrow, G. M. (2011). Aging, the individual, and society. (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Prominent musician, Celine Dion, once said, “There’s no such thing is aging, but maturing and knowledge. It’s beautiful, I call that beauty.” To many, growing old is just a natural, beautiful part of life. It is inevitable. It is inescapable. The functionalist perspective of sociology states that the elderly perform a function in order to keep society running with ease. Functionalists focus on the disengagement theory and how people tend to disengage from society as they approach death. Symbolic interactionists focus on how environmental factors and relationships with others affect the aging experience, focusing on the activity theory and the continuity theory (Carl, 2011, p. 220). Conflict theorists focus on the discrepancies that arise between different age groups. They also focus on the economical side of aging and the issues that may arise due to an active elderly population (Carl, 2011, p. 221).
The housing boom created an illusion of ever increasing home equity. It was difficult to walk away from potential homes that seemed good on the surface, but in reality were either money pits or less than desirable. For the uninitiated, making sense out of the chaos when things start to go wrong is an emotional process that lends itself to the gradual disposal of the rose-colored glasses. The upkeep and maintenance that homeownership requires of the inexperienced homeowner, particularly an older home, is comparable to taking on a new entry-level job with diminishing returns. There is a prevailing chaos amid the turmoil of a broken water pipe during a holiday weekend.
Hooyman, N., & Kiyak, H. A. (2011). Social gerontology: A multidisciplinary perspective (9th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. (Original work published 2005)
There are a number of benefits to be found from thinking about ageing as a lifelong process and not just one that affects older people. This essay will define some of these benefits whilst backing up this reasoning with reference to the K118 material. It will then explain briefly which experiences I have had personally which have led me to responding to the question in this manner.
Lemon, B. W., Bengtson, V. L., & Peterson, J. A. (1972). An exploration of the activity theory of aging: Activity types and life satisfaction among in-movers to a retirement community. Journal of gerontology, 27(4), 511-523.
Atchley, R. C. (1997). Social forces and aging: An introduction to social gerontology (8th ed.).
Theories concerned with ageing are constructed in an attempt to objectively satisfy the inquiries that arise after studying ageing and to provide evidence based clarifications. In the context of this essay, they allow troubleshooting regarding issues around the type of support would be expected to be needed by Betty and her son. Bengtson et al, (1999) accepts the potential pragmatism of the theories nevertheless he argues that they can be generalised and unimaginative. The controversy regarding theorising ageing becomes especially relevant when they are applied in isolation failing to address that “the science and positivism are severely limiting… for understanding aspects of ageing.” Bengtson et al (1999)
Uhlenberg, Peter. 1992. “Population Aging and Social Policy.” Annual Review, Sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
The adage of the adage of the adage of the adage of the adage of the adage of the adage of the adage of the adage of Essentials of Life-Span Development, 3rd Edition. New York, New York: McGraw-Hill.
Aging and being old was dominated by negative characteristics and conditions such as illness, depression, and isolation for a long time (Eibach, Mock, & Courtney, 2010). At first glance the terms “success” and “aging” seem to be in conflict to each other. When asking people about aging, their answers have many facets that are also found in psychological definitions: successful aging is seen as health, maturity and personal growth, self-acceptance, happiness, generativity, coping, and acceptance of age-related limitations. In the psychological sense successful aging is also often seen as the absence of age-associated characteristics (Strawbridge, Wallhagen, & Cohen, 2002). It seems that successful aging means is not aging.
Berger, K. S. (2010). Invitation to The Life Span (Second Edition). Unite State of America: Worth Publishers.