Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: During the 1990s in South Africa an increasing need for care and housing for the aged became evident. On the one hand greater longevity created a rapid increase in the number of aged people of all population groups, and on the other, changes in government policy foreshadowed a drastic scaling down of the role of the state with regard to the supply of housing for the aged. In the midst of these changes, one type of housing for the aged has remained outside the pale of the altering policy scenario: retirement villages. This then is the main focus of the study. Taking into account the fact that retirement villages presently focus mainly on a single elderly group, namely wealthy white persons, and set against the backdrop of the changing situation regarding policy towards housing for the aged, the question arises whether in future retirement villages will be capable of providing housing for a greater percentage of elderly people than at present. The present demand and supply of retirement villages is critically evaluated within the context of housing for the aged in general in order to contribute to a future vision for housing for the aged within the new South Africa. In view of this - and taking into account cultural, financial and age differences - the housing and care needs, as well as the preferences and perceptions of 228 elderly persons, are analysed and compared in this respect with the views of relevant interested parties, namely gerontologists, sociologists, non-governmental organizations and retirement village developers. In focusing on 34 retirement villages in the greater Cape Town area, this study fills the gap that exists within urban geography regarding housing for the aged. An analysis is done of the location of retirement villages in this area, as well as of the factors that influence the selection of locations for such housing schemes. Not only are issues of supply and demand addressed, but also the problems with which the retirement village industry has to deal, such as service delivery, grading (classification status according to specific standards) and the spatial placing of villages. In this wayan attempt is made to find a solution to related problems. The most important conclusion that arose from this research can be summarized as being that elderly people show a lack of knowledge regarding the services offered by these facilities. For this reason retirement villages have been classified under four headings, according to the care services they offer, namely the independent lifestyle village, the supportive care village, the continuous care village and the care for life village. Retirement villages can play an ever-increasing role in providing housing and care for the aged. This will only happen if the various preferences, opinions and perceptions of the different groups of elderly persons are seriously considered and compared to the views of the experts in the field. The basic preferences of the aged can be summarised as: renting residential units instead of buying them; no luxuries such as therapy services; safety considerations incorporated in the design of the interior of the units; being able to use their own furniture in the units; primary health care offered; availability of recreational facilities; good corporate management and accessibility to essential services (in terms of the location of the village). In conclusion, experts of retirement village housing should avoid problems that stem from injudiciously developing complexes that through their inaccessiblity isolate residents from the rest of the community. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In Suid-Afrika is die negentigerjare van die vorige eeu gekenmerk deur 'n toenemende behoefte aan die versorging van en behuising vir bejaardes. Enersyds het langer lewensverwagting 'n snelle toename in die getal bejaardes onder alle bevolkingsgroepe meegebring en andersyds het veranderings in owerheidsbeleid 'n drastiese afskaling in die rol van die staat met betrekking tot behuisingsvoorsiening aan bejaardes in die vooruitsig gestel. Te midde van die verandering ten opsigte van behuisingsvoorsiening vir bejaardes, is daar egter een tipe behuising vir bejaardes wat buite die veranderde beleidstoneel van die staat staan, naamlik aftree-oorde - wat dan die hooffokus van hierdie ondersoek is. In die lig van die veranderende beleidsomgewing rakende die voorsiening van behuising aan bejaardes ontstaan die vraag of aftree-oorde in die toekoms aan 'n groter persentasie bejaardes as tans behuising kan voorsien, gegee die feit dat aftree-oorde tans veralop 'n enkele groep bejaardes, naamlik welgestelde wit bejaardes, fokus. Die huidige vraag na en aanbod van aftree-oorde word in die lig hiervan krities evalueer teen die agtergrond van behuising vir bejaardes in die algemeen ten einde te help bou aan 'n toekomsvisie vir die behuising vir bejaardes in die nuwe Suid-Afrika. Met die oog hierop word die behuisingsen versorgingsbehoeftes, -voorkeure en -persepsies van 228 bejaardes ontleed (gegee hul kulturele, finansiële en ouderdomsverskille) en dan vergelyk met die menings van tersake rolspelers aan die aanbodkant, naamlik gerontoloë, sosioloë, nieregeringsinstansies en die ontwikkelaars van aftree-oorde. Hierdie studie vul die leemte wat binne stedelike geografie bestaan ten opsigte van bejaardes, deur te fokus op 34 aftree-oorde in Kaapstad en sy soomdistrikte met 'n ontleding van die ligging van oorde in hierdie gebied, asook van faktore wat die plasingskeuse van oorde beïnvloed. In die navorsing word nie net die vraag en aanbod van aftree-oorde aangespreek nie, maar ook die probleme waarmee die aftree-oord industrie te doen het, soos dienslewering, gradering (klassifikasie-status volgens bepaalde maatstawwe) en die ruimtelike plasing van oorde om 'n bydrae tot die oplossing van sodanige probleme te kan lewer. Die belangrikste gevolgtrekkings van hierdie studie kan soos volg opgesom word: Daar is 'n gebrek aan kennis by bejaardes ten opsigte van die dienste wat verskillende aftree- oorde aan die bejaarde bied. Vir hierdie rede is aftree-oorde op grond van hulle versorgingsdienste in vier groepe geklassifiseer, naamlik die onafhanklike lewenstyloord, die ondersteuningsdiensoord, die volgehoue versorgingsoord en die lewenslange versorgingsoord. Aftree-oorde kan 'n al groter rol in die voorsiening van behuising aan en versorging van bejaardes speel mits aandag gegee word aan die verskillende voorkeure, menings en persepsies van die verskillende bejaarde groepe en hoe dit met dié van die deskundiges verskil. Die basiese voorkeure van bejaardes kan opgesom word as: die huur van wooneenhede in plaas van om te koop; geen luukshede soos terapiedienste nie; die veiligheidsbewuste ontwerp van die interieur; die gebruik van eie meubels in die wooneenhede; die voorsiening van primêre gesondheidsorg; die beskikbaarheid van rekreasiefasiliteite; die goeie bestuur van die oord en die geskikte ligging van die oord ten opsigte van die belangrikste dienste. Laastens moet deskundiges van aftree-oord behuising waak teen probleme wat sentreer rondom die plasing van 'n oord asook die isolasie van die aftreeoord inwoners van die gemeenskap.

As people age there is an overwhelming desire to remain in the familiar surroundings of the family home, what is called Aging in Place. But inevitable changes that occur in their lives force the aging adults and their families to consider a move to some form of institutional living. Living at a distance from one another, the adult child attempts to maintain peace of mind concerning the well-being of their aging parents but finds it to be a difficult task. I propose to address this problem by first proposing that technology can help minimize the anxieties experienced by the adult child concerning their aging parents well being by appropriately presenting information on the aging parents daily life. This technological design concept does not require that the aging parent input, or for that matter, do anything other than live their lives as they normally live them. Further, this technology provides this information in a manner that is continuously available to the adult child for either opportunistic or planned perusal. As a single instance of the technological design concept proposed above, the Digital Family Portrait embeds well-being related information into an item commonly found in homes, the picture in a picture frame. The Digital Family Portrait was first tested in a wizard-of-oz field trial, then redesigned based on the outcome of this initial field trial coupled with the results of two lab-based studies and a further informal evaluation. The redesigned Digital Family Portrait was built and installed in the home of an adult child while the sensors to drive it were installed in an aging parents home. A field trial of this installation lasting for one year was conducted. The result of this field trial was to find that the Digital Family Portrait was an acceptable means of resolving certain peace of mind issues for the adult child while not raising privacy. It was found to be used in a socially acceptable manner by the adult child while the aging parent to reported feeling less lonely.

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

Portland, Oregon, is considered to be a leader in sustainable development. Government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and businesses have been innovators in policymaking and practice that is aimed at creating a more sustainable city. Despite population aging, little is known about how or whether planners and developers consider older persons in terms of sustainable development. Thus, this study examined the case of sustainable, affordable housing developed for low-income adults aged 55 and older. Interviews with 31 key informants were conducted in order to answer three research questions: What is the meaning of sustainable development in Portland, Oregon, as it pertains to affordable housing for an aging society? How and why has sustainable, affordable housing for older adults been developed in Portland? What are the policies that affect the availability and appropriateness of sustainable, affordable housing for older adults in Portland? The sample included individuals who influenced the creation of senior housing (e.g., urban planners, architects, nonprofit directors) and who were identified either because of their roles within local housing development or through snowball sampling. Six Portland-area developments provided the context for studying how and why sustainable, affordable housing for older adults was planned and created in the city. The findings suggested that introducing the topic of aging into the discourse of sustainable development will lead to a more robust meaning of the concept, which can aid future research, policy, and practice. Five elements characterizing sustainable housing for older adults were identified: physical accessibility; proximity to community services; infrastructure that connects housing with services; healthy living environments; and high-quality social spaces in and near housing developments. The findings also pointed to the need for sustainable development practices to pay attention to social equity and the equitable distribution of affordable housing, including housing for older adults. Several insights into how sustainable, affordable housing for older adults developed in Portland were gained (e.g., using government subsidies; involving aging experts in integrated design processes; intersectoral partnerships that led to the city becoming an early adopter in greening its affordable housing), as well as why such housing was completed (e.g., there was a collective public-sector response to meet the need for creating sustainable, affordable housing; an emerging culture of sustainable development in Portland; urban and regional planning efforts have begun to address population aging). However, the amount of sustainable, affordable housing remains insufficient to meet Portland's aging population. Reasons identified include: the absence of specific housing policy attuned to the needs of older adults in Portland; disconnects between housing and health care and supportive services; and lack of integration of older adults in the planning, design, and development processes. Room for innovation and improvement exists in regard to healthy, accessible, green, and affordable housing policies and the development of new models of housing for an aging population. Based on this research, 10 guiding principles of sustainable development for an aging society were proposed to inform future research, as well as planning and development efforts.