Vulnerability and the person-environment fit of older adults

Vulnerability and the person-environment fit of older adultsFrans Thissen

Department of Geography, Planning and International Development Studies

OutlinePart 1 Introduction Concepts Results: the cumulative

character of vulnerability (a demanding environment)

Possibilities of (in)formal care (a supportive environment)

Conclusions

Part 2 Questions

The conceptualisation and measurement of person-environment fit

Research project in Eastern Gelderland villages

Vulnerability and the person-environment fit of older adults

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Introduction “WHEN I'M SIXTY-FOUR” When I get older losing my hair,Many years from nowWill you still be sending me the Valentine,Birthday greetings, bottle of wine

Paul McCartney (1967)

THE EXPERIENCE OF BEING OLD(Young) Adults have not ‘been there’. ‘Being old’ creates the potential of empathy, recognition, sharing and understanding.

Chris Pilo (2003), however about the study of youth. GROWING OLD: LOSS

Loss of health (biological) Loss of social roles (social-cultural) Loss of social capital (functional social

resources) Theo van Tilburg (2005)

UvA research about older people

Older people in villages Zeeland, Drenthe, Gelderland (1995 &

2009), Noord-Holland Old People in Europe’s Rural Areas

(OPERA) Clare Wenger: types of social support

networks European study of Adult Well-being

(ESAW) Clare Wenger, Thomas Scharf, Vanessa

Burholt PhD Marieke van der Meer

Multiple disadvantage of older immigrants and non-migrants in deprived neighbourhoods in Amsterdam

PhD Sabine van der Greft


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Concepts Vulnerability Environment / Neighbourhood (demanding / supporting) Environmental stress Environmental docility hypothesis Person-environment fit

Literature: Meer, M. van der, J. Droogleever Fortuijn & F. Thissen (2008), Vulnerability and environmental

stress of older adults in deprived neighbourhoods in The Netherlands. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Vol 99, 1, p. 53-64.

Droogleever Fortuijn, J.C., M.J. van der Meer & F. Thissen (2006). Kwetsbare ouderen en de kwaliteit van de buurt. Rooilijn, 39 (5): 245-250.

Meer, M. Van der (2006), Older adults and their socio-spatial integration in the Netherlands, Netherlands Geographical Studies 345, KNAG / UvA, Utrecht / Amsterdam, Chapter 6


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Vulnerability (1) Definition: “aggregate of all

factors that negatively affect independent functioning in daily life”

Multidimensional concept with cumulative effects

Balance between burden vs. bearing capacity (Deeg)

Views on vulnerability / frailty (SCP)

Result of irreversible developments (health, social networks)


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Vulnerability (2) Dimensions: Individual: personal functional

dependency Personal health status Behavioural consequences (Instrumental) activities of daily

living: (I)ADL, measures of independent functioning

Household: resources Presence of other people Adequacy of household income

Environmental context


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Environment / Neighbourhood

Work of environmental psychology (Lawton) and environmental gerontology (Phillipson, Scharf)

Environment: Demanding vs. supportive

character of the environment Changing character of the (local)

community (Phillipson)‘Elected’ and ‘Excluded’

Person-environment fit (Keaton) Older people as active agents Temporal dimension: place

connectivity (Burholt)


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Neighbourhood deprivation

Neighbourhood deprivation: multidimensional concept (Musterd)

1. Low income2. Non-participation and non-integration

(social security payments) Relevant characteristics for social

mobility of (young) adults

Neighbourhood deprivation dimensions for older people

Housing and care: quality dwellings, public domain and access to services Self reliance

Wellbeing (social climate) Belonging and identity


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Environmental stress

Definition: “process in which people experience emotional distress in relationship to environmental exposures” (Baum et al 1982; Dupéré & Perkins 2007)

‘Being out of place’ (Rowles & Walkins, 2007)

Measuring environmental stress1. Dissatisfaction with the

neighbourhood2. Feelings of safety


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Environmental docility hypothesis (Lawton 1982) “the less competent the individual, the greater is the impact

of environmental factors on that individual”

Older adults without functional limitations and with adequate household resources are able to live satisfying lives in a variety of not only favourable, but also unfavourable environments.

Frail older adults with few resources are hypothesised to experience high levels of environmental stress in terms of neighbourhood dissatisfaction and feelings of unsafety in deprived neighbourhoods, while feeling satisfied and safe in non-deprived neighbourhoods.


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Data and methods ESAW NL Dutch ESAW dataset 2002-2003, structured face-to-face

interview with 1939 older people (50-90 years, non-institutional)

Stratified random sample (12 geographical strata) Three regions: central, peri-urban, peripheral Urban / rural Deprived / non-deprived

Sample proportionate to national distribution of eight age / gender groups

Response rate 43 percent Descriptive analyses and logistic regression analyses


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Older adults in The NetherlandsDeprived neighbourhood 36 % functional dependent 45 % low income 28 % lives alone

30 % Lives whole life in current settlement

Access to dwelling by stairs: 14 %

Non-deprived neighbourhood 25 % functional dependent 22 % low income 24 % lives alone

18 % lives whole life in current settlement

Access to dwelling by stairs 9 %


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Source: Esaw-NL 2002-2003

Cumulative character of vulnerability (1)

14Vulnerability and the person-environment fit of older adults



Cumulative character of vulnerability (2)


Possibilities of (in)formal care (a supportive environment)Dependent older people in deprived neighbourhoods receiving informal care experience less environmental stress than older people receiving formal care


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Conclusions

Most older people: self reliant, feel at home, active agents

Vulnerable people are more likely to experience negative effects from environmental deprivation

Risks of socialisation of care Accumulation of personal, household and

environmental vulnerability results in environmental stress (cumulative character of vulnerability)

The importance of the quality of the neighbourhood


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Questions: the conceptualization and measurement of person-environment fit of older adultsMake a list or scheme of concepts that represents the concept of person-environment fit of older people in a village

Develop some ideas for ‘measurement’: topic list or questions in questionnaire

Research design – conceptual model


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Dependent variables:

Person-environment fit

Explanatory variables:

Life history characteristics

Individual characteristics

Contextual characteristics

Self-reliance (housing, care)

Feeling at home (belonging, identity)

Research region: Eastern Gelderland



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Data Women and men > 55 years 1995 survey 285 women, 230 men 1995 interviews 15 women, 10 men 2009 survey 285 women, 230 men 2009 interviews 15 women, 8 men


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Indicators of modernity and person-environment fit

Driving license Car availability Experience with

paid work Educational level

Satisfaction with dwelling

Satisfaction with village Feelings of safety locally Attachment to village Active outside home

Traditional-Modern Vulnerable-successful

Traditional / Modern


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Four situations of person-environment fit

vulnerable successfultraditional 2 1modern 3 4


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Traditional successful: Nel 75 years Lives 50 years in small village M. Married with farmer Active in community life (choir, noaberschap, dialect) Feels perfectly at home Feels safe

“I leave the keys in my car and everybody could take the car and I let all the doors open and there is always coffee for anybody who drops in”


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Traditional vulnerable: Corrie 86 years Wheelchair 45 years in industrial village B. Low involvement in community life Knows less and less people Feels unsafe

“The tight community is still there but has gone underground”


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Modern vulnerable: Anna

68 years 34 years in small village L. Active in social activities outside village (tennis,

classical music) Few contacts in village Feels not at home Feels unsafe

“L. does not feel as ‘my’ village”


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Modern successful: Marjan 68 years Born in large village K., but lived longtime outside village Active in aqua fitness, badminton and voluntary work (Third

World shop, Red Cross, local crafts) in village Helps people, knows many people in village Feels at home Feels safe Actively anticipates on later life in village

“I have spotted my future house in the village”

Person environment fit: Vulnerable older women / type of village


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Critical human ecology viewpoint on ageing“ …older adults are not passive recipients of the environments in which they live, but have varying capacities to make choices and to act on and adapt their environments” (Keating and Phillips, 2008, p. 4)


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Conceptualization and measurement of person-environment fit of older people in small villages

Self

reliance

General opinion about self-reliance Own contribution:Housing Opinion about dwelling

Opinion about residential environment Opinion about characteristics of the

residential environment (facilities, safety, inhabitants, attractiveness)

Recent activities aimed at better person-environment fit: Moving, changes to dwelling, activities aimed at better fit with respect to residential environment

Care Opinion about formal care Opinion about informal care of family Opinion about informal care of neighbours Opinion about informal care of friends

Recent activities with respect to self-care, informal care, volunteering, helping family, friends and neighbours

Feeling at home

General opinion about feeling at home Own contribution:Well-being

Loneliness Place attachment:

o Social (social integration)o Physical (esthetical and emotional)o Historical (relation developed in time)

Identification: relation between own lifestyle and place identity

Recent activities with respect to social integration, the physical quality of the village, historical consciousness, attuning lifestyle and place

Vulnerability and the person-environment fit of older adultsFrans Thissen

Department of Geography, Planning and International Development Studies

Vulnerability and the person-environment fit of older adults

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