Service settings for an aging society : a community ordering principle

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1987.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-86).Current facility models used in the design of housing and service settings for older people encourage the development of urban, large scale, age-segregated institutional environments. Research has either unwittingly or not, encouraged and perpetuated these models by stressing the need for congruence between person and dwelling environment. Such research has encouraged the movement of individuals to alternative living environments when age related changes in social, economic or health status reduce this level of congruence between person and environment based on key factors which are deemed important by gerontological researchers. Homeownership by older people is a behavior which is increasing. This is a trend which is not likely to reverse in the future. Approximately 75% of all people over the age of 65 choose to remain in their own owned single-family residential settings. It is estimated that by the year 1995 over 80% of all older people will live in their own homes, yet research of alternative models for service delivery to support these actions is sorely lacking. The key to providing services to an increasing number of older people in our society will not be through the production of alternative housing situations. What is needed is the provision of service setting s which assist these people in the maintenance of their lives within their chosen and preferred living situation. The research undertaken in this paper will investigate the development of alternative neighborhood based service settings designed to meet this growing need. The proposed model will integrate these service settings into residential areas using the neighborhood as an urban design framework. A case study will examine the usefulness of the neighborhood concept in the planning and delivery of services to older populations within a suburban community.by Gaius Grant Nelson.M.S