Exploring the age-friendliness of older people’s housing in Auckland, New Zealand

Abstract

This research explores and contributes to the understanding of how well older people’s housing meets their needs within the context of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Global Age-friendly Cities’ guide. Specifically, by considering the relationship between the person-environment (P-E) fit theory and the concept of ageing in place (AIP), this thesis investigates older people’s perception of the age-friendliness of their housing. Drawing on a qualitative case study design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirty-one independent older people (65 years and over), who were purposively selected across three housing options (owner-occupied housing, rental housing, and retirement housing) in Auckland, New Zealand. Interviewees were asked questions concerning how the design features of their housing support independence and ageing in place. Data was also collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with nine stakeholders (Senior Advocacy Groups, architects and developers) involved in the advocacy, design and development of housing for the ageing population. To supplement the data collected from the interviews with older people, and discover the extent to which stakeholders understand and address older people’s housing needs, stakeholders were asked about their perceptions and contributions to the age-friendliness of older peoples’ housing in Auckland. Collected data was evaluated using thematic coding method, which was conducted through NVivo (a qualitative data analysis software package). Research findings revealed that living in a ‘smallish house on one level’ enhanced interviewees’ ambulation, independence and ageing in place across all housing options. Older people’s need for a small or compact house on one level and their desire to age in place was observed to be related to what stakeholders described as older people’s spatial needs and aspiration for long-term security of tenure, respectively. Research findings further revealed that the decision to age in place did not differ among older interviewees across all three housing options, and it was not dependent on the housing options or the overall functionality of those houses. The decision to age in place essentially depended on subjective satisfaction and sense of attachment, which interviewees had derived from their home environments. Interviewees asserted their decision to keep living in their homes even when they had concerns about few design deficits, increasing safety issues, and the poor state of their accommodations in changing weather conditions. Although, interviewees chose to age in their current accommodations and would not want to relocate elsewhere, key factors which could eventually influence relocation included health, death, family, place attachment considerations, affordability, and location suitability factors. Furthermore, findings indicated that older people’s perception of the age-friendliness of their housing was particularly influenced by their individual wellbeing and subjective outlook. In other words, interviewees who considered themselves fit tended to consider their home environments as age-friendly. Conversely, interviewees who strongly deprecated the design deficits of their housing did so because of ageing-related health issues. This research found that the extent to which stakeholders understood the housing needs set out in the WHO’s Global Age-friendly Cities’ guide depended on their direct engagement or interaction with older people. Direct engagement or interaction with older people or the absence of it was discovered in stakeholders’ comments as well as their designs, developments and programmes, which they presented during the interviews. Findings from this research provide a deeper understanding about stakeholders’ contribution to, and older people’s perceptions of the age-friendliness of their housing in Auckland, New Zealand. This research extends the frontiers of knowledge, and makes both empirical and theoretical contributions to related research studies. This research also provides insights for more evidence-based operative policies, and practical interventions for older people’s housing in Auckland and elsewhere.