Impact of Shared Residential Care Settings on Older Adults

Abstract:  While evidence is clear that most people would prefer to age at home, this isn’t feasible for everyone, so many older adults move into a shared residential setting, ranging from supportive or assisted living to nursing homes/residential care home.  These are amongst the most frail individual in our society, and according to the competence-press model of Lawton and Nahemow (1983) they are most sensitive to both supportive environments and settings that are less supportive of their preferences, abilities and needs.  The philosophical shift from viewing these settings as just a place to care for old people to homes where older people live, people who deserve to have meaningful lives and relationships, and yes, even fun, had resulted in major shifts in the design of these settings. This session will review several decades of research on the impact of the designed environment on residents of shared residential settings.

Speaker: Margaret Calkins,PhD | President of I.D.E.A.S. Inc. (a research and consulting group)