Housing standards, environmental barriers in the home, and subjective general apprehension of housing situation among the rural elderly.
Author
Summary, in English
The aim of this study was to describe housing standards, physical environmental barriers in the homes and housing
accessibility in relation to elderly people’s subjective general apprehension of their housing situation. By means of a
novel instrument for home assessments, the Enabler, a rural population sample of individuals aged 75-84 years was
surveyed. The results demonstrated that the respondents lived in houses with high housing standards. However, in
every home assessed, physical environmental barriers were found. The environmental barrier that was predicted to
cause the heaviest environmental demand of all, in relation to the prevalence of functional limitations and dependence
on assistive devices for mobility in the sample investigated, was “Lack of handrails at WChath-tubkhower”. The
respondents’ subjective general apprehension of their housing was very positive, and not correlated to housing
accessibility. In conclusion, inaccessible housing represents a potential public health problem, since it threatens the
activity level of older persons. However, other aspects of housing seem to be more important to the elderly people
themselves. Housing accessibility problems are currently overlooked but are important to future public planning
concerning housing for the elderly
accessibility in relation to elderly people’s subjective general apprehension of their housing situation. By means of a
novel instrument for home assessments, the Enabler, a rural population sample of individuals aged 75-84 years was
surveyed. The results demonstrated that the respondents lived in houses with high housing standards. However, in
every home assessed, physical environmental barriers were found. The environmental barrier that was predicted to
cause the heaviest environmental demand of all, in relation to the prevalence of functional limitations and dependence
on assistive devices for mobility in the sample investigated, was “Lack of handrails at WChath-tubkhower”. The
respondents’ subjective general apprehension of their housing was very positive, and not correlated to housing
accessibility. In conclusion, inaccessible housing represents a potential public health problem, since it threatens the
activity level of older persons. However, other aspects of housing seem to be more important to the elderly people
themselves. Housing accessibility problems are currently overlooked but are important to future public planning
concerning housing for the elderly
Publishing year
1996
Language
English
Pages
52-61
Publication/Series
Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy
Volume
3
Issue
2
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Topic
- Occupational Therapy
Status
Published
Research group
- Sustainable occupations and health in a life course perspective
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1651-2014