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This study attempts to understand the issues and challenges related to healthy aging faced by Chinese seniors who are living in a cultural and social context different from their home countries. Using an ecosystems perspective, the study focuses on exploring three major components in seniors’ lives: health, social capital, and residential environment, and then analyzing the interactions among the components. A convergent parallel mixed methods design was used in this study. A survey was conducted with seniors in Winnipeg Chinese communities to collect quantitative data on health (SF-36) and social capital (views of community, trust and reciprocity, civil participation, social networks and social support, and social participation), and focus group interviews were conducted to collect qualitative data on social capital and residential environment. One hundred and one respondents were interviewed in person to fill out the questionnaire and 43 seniors participated in focus group interviews. PASW 18 (SPSS) and NVivo 8 were applied to analyzed quantitative and qualitative data respectively. Descriptive and bi-variate statistics, a comparison of Winnipeg sample data and general Chinese-Canadian seniors data, and qualitative findings are presented to describe the research target group’s demographics, health conditions, social capital, and residential environmental issues. Overall, Winnipeg Chinese seniors enjoy moderate health; but many of them reported different levels and types of difficulties they had experienced with health care and health care support services. Both quantitative and qualitative data demonstrate the level of low social capital among Chinese Seniors in Winnipeg. The quantitative data reveal some correlations between social capital factors and Chinese seniors’ health conditions, among which the most significant is that social capital likely has effects on female Chinese seniors’ mental health and male Chinese seniors’ physical health. In particular, the level of social networks and social support was positively correlated with older Chinese women’s mental health. The environments in which these seniors lived appeared to have hindered or triggered them in building or increasing their social capital. For example, those who had acquired less support from their immediate micro environment – family – tended to be more motivated to extend their social connections in a larger environment in order to obtain resources for problem-solving. Cultural influence and health care support services were critical factors in Chinese seniors’ considerations and expectations of a residential environment. In contrast to traditional Chinese cultural norms of an inter-dependent living arrangement, the majority of Chinese seniors preferred to live in separate households from their adult children. Another important finding is that a cultural- and linguistic-homogeneous residential environment does not necessarily provide positive support to Chinese seniors for their acquisition of social capital. Upon further analysis of social capital and its relationships with health and residential environments, the study offers implications from research findings to social work practice, integrating cross-cultural considerations. The study concludes with an analysis of limitations as well as suggestions for recommendations for future research. / May 2015

The purpose of this study was to identify whether the residential environments of Korean women age 65 and older living in apartments were safe for them. In order to accomplish the purpose, this study focused on the safety practices of older Korean women in their daily activities. The sample of 90 older women was selected from the residents living in three apartment complexes of Kang-Nam and Kang-Dong areas in Seoul, Korea. The data were collected through survey questionnaires, which had been pretested, and revised based on Tomlinson's instrument. The survey instrument measured perception of safety hazards, safety features, safety precautions, and intended modifications/assistance. The data were analyzed using frequencies, percentage, and means as descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis. The average age of the sample was 73.5 years old. Most of the respondents were in good health. The majority of the sample lived with the family of their adult child. Most of them received money from their children. Most of the dwelling units were owned by their child. The majority of the sample lived in dwelling units located below the ninth floor. / Master of Science

Researching the quality of life is an interdisciplinary matter. The physical and social environment that man inhabits, we consider to be the basic building blocks of the quality of life. The classical geographic question is what kind of relationship between people and the environment arises. One way we can measure the relationship between man and the environment is to ask how man perceives the environment and how he evaluates it. A suitable tool for understanding these contexts is the concept of residential satisfaction. Residential satisfaction derives from alignment of the needs and abilities of man with the qualities of the environment that he inhabits. This dissertation focuses on the understanding of the meaning of space in the context of aging and its subsequent utility in the research of the residential satisfaction of the aging population. This dissertation contributes to the realization of a highly socially relevant topic and expands knowledge about the quality of the living environment of the senior population. It connects research concerning urban geography and gerontological disciplines. Research on residential satisfaction is performed on the background of urban processes that significantly influence the shape of the current post-socialist cities. The residential environment in the...

EVERYDAY LIFE AND SOCIAL ISOLATION OF ELDERLY PEOPLE IN URBAN AND RURAL ENVIRONMENTS THE ABSTRACT: My presented diploma thesis includes two concepts. The first one describes the quality of life and residential environments; the second concerns social isolation. Both of these examine a different view on the quality of life within the senior generation because the daily life of the older generation is influenced by the intensity and frequency of sociable relations together with the quality of residential environment in which they live. In the study I chose two different types of environments - an urban environment of Plzeň, a borough of Doubravka and a rural environment of a small village - Pasečnice. In the work, I observed the strengths and weaknesses of these environments in a group of people, who were interviewed. The research was made with semi-structural interview and analyzes the disposition of social isolation and the personal feeling about each residential environment. Diploma thesis concentrates on the main factors in senior's daily lives such as social relations, housing, basic service facilities, transportation availability, free time, and safety in the mentioned area of living. Key words: social isolation, quality of residential environments, seniors, city, country, civic facilities

This master’s thesis deals with some concepts and theories related to public space and everyday life and points to how neglecting women’s needs and preferences in public spaces can lead to the formation of gendered urban spaces which prevent women from earning their right to the city. Concepts such as quality of life, quality of place, living environment, residential perception and satisfaction, and place attachment overlap and have many interrelations. One cannot consider, for example, the quality of residential environment independent of residential satisfaction or ignore its influence on the quality of life. This study focuses specifically on the perception of residential environment quality, in the medium scale (neighborhood). Despite a wide range of studies in the field of perceived residential environment quality, the review of literature reveals that studies in this field lack sufficient attention to power relations which among others (cultural, ethnic, etc.), can be gender related. Given the mentioned issues, this study explores women’s perceptions of residential environment quality in the Lindängen neighborhood in Malmö, Sweden. Drawing upon the analysis of a questionnaire, the study presents four scales of REQ in which women’s perceptions have been different from men’s: Recreational services, Safety, Public furniture and Commercial services. In the next stage, a set of semi-structured interviews were done with five women living in the neighborhood. These interviews explore the way women’s ideas and perceptions about their neighborhood, more specifically about the four aforementioned scales, affect their daily lives. The findings of this study highlight the influence of the residential environment quality on everyday lives of women and indicates their different needs for urban facilities and infrastructures (such as recreational or commercial services, as this study indicates) as compared to men.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:38:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RosiresMBB_DISSERT.pdf: 4842010 bytes, checksum: 6881e449282f7203659a5bf5c828b31b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-08-31 / Dengue is currently considered one of the most relevant public health problems worldwide. Studies indicate the surroundings of the houses as the preferred sites for the proliferation of Aedes aegypti. The residential areas are privileged environments for human development and contribute to the formation of the individual s identity and for the establishment of affective, social and cultural bonds. The purpose of this study was to investigate possible links between psychological indicators of pro-environmentalism and conservation status of residential backyards. Data collection was performed in 147 homes and methodological strategy involved the use of interview, the Scale of Ecocentric and Anthropocentric Environmentalism, Scale of Consideration of Future Consequences and a tool for environmental evaluation. It was found that the participants expressed as environmental practices the garbage recycling, besides they had the knowledge of how the transmission of dengue occurs. These residents showed ecofriendly motivated commitment: pro-environmentalist ecocentric and anthropocentric. In evaluating the backyard it was verified that the conservation conditions, in almost half of the homes, appeared as carelessness on the part of residents and those conditions are conducive to the proliferation of Aedes aegypti. The pro-environmentalists and guidance for the future identified by the scales were not associated with the conservation status of the backyards. However, it was found that the trends of reduction and stability of infestation levels are associated with self-reported environmental care. These results can contribute to the discussion and design of new mosquito control actions and practices of education and health information among the population / O dengue ? considerado, atualmente, um dos principais problemas de sa?de p?blica no mundo. Os estudos realizados apontam o entorno das moradias como locais preferenciais para a prolifera??o do Aedes aegypti. Os ambientes residenciais s?o ambientes privilegiados para o desenvolvimento humano e contribuem para a forma??o da identidade do indiv?duo e para o estabelecimento de v?nculos afetivos, sociais e culturais. O prop?sito deste estudo foi investigar poss?veis rela??es entre os indicadores psicol?gicos de pr?-ambientalidade e o estado de conserva??o dos quintais residenciais. A coleta de dados foi realizada em 147 resid?ncias e a estrat?gia metodol?gica envolveu a utiliza??o de entrevista, da Escala de Ambientalismo Ecoc?ntrico e Antropoc?ntrico, da Escala de Considera??o de Consequ?ncias Futuras e de um instrumento de avalia??o ambiental. Verificou-se que os participantes expressaram como pr?tica de cuidado ambiental a reciclagem do lixo, al?m de conhecerem a forma de transmiss?o do dengue. Esses moradores apresentaram compromisso pr?-ecol?gico motivado, duplamente, por pr?-ambientalidades ecoc?ntrica e antropoc?ntrica. Na avalia??o dos quintais foi verificada que as condi??es de conserva??o, em quase metade das moradias, se configuravam como descuido por parte dos moradores e essas condi??es s?o prop?cias para a prolifera??o do Aedes aegypti. As pr?-ambientalidades e a orienta??o de futuro identificadas pelas escalas n?o foram associadas ao estado de conserva??o dos quintais. Entretanto, foi verificado que as tend?ncias de redu??o e estabilidade dos ?ndices de infesta??o est?o associadas ao autorrelato de cuidado ambiental. Os resultados encontrados podem contribuir para a discuss?o e delineamento de novas a??es de controle do mosquito e pr?ticas de educa??o e informa??o em sa?de junto ? popula??o

Background: Preterm birth is a major public health concern in the US. Previous studies have suggested that quality of the mother-father relationship, social support, and neighborhood violence may be associated with preterm birth; however, findings are equivocal. Objectives: The main objectives of this dissertation were: 1) to determine the modifying effect of perceived residential environment on the association between quality of mother–father relationship and preterm birth in a sample of African-American women, 2) to examine whether the receipt of social support modifies the association between neighborhood violence exposure and preterm birth in a nationally representative sample of US women, and 3) to determine the extent to which neighborhood violence mediates the association between neighborhood deprivation and preterm birth in a geographic cohort of women in Richmond city, Virginia. Methods: Data were obtained from three sources – 1) Life-course Influences on Fetal Environments (LIFE) study, 2) National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, and 3) live birth records, police crime reports and census data for Richmond city, Virginia. Multivariable log-binomial regression models were used to examine the modifying effect of perceived residential environment on the association between quality of mother–father relationship and preterm birth, as well as the modifying effect of social support on the association between neighborhood violence exposure and preterm birth. Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to examine the mediational influence of neighborhood violence on the association between neighborhood deprivation and preterm birth. Results: For the association between neighborhood violence exposure and preterm birth, maternal receipt of social support modified the association [(Tertile 1: adjusted prevalence ratio (APR)=1.12; 95% CI=1.11-1.13, p<.0001); (Tertile 2: APR=1.07; 95% CI=1.06-1.08, p<.0001); and (Tertile 3: APR=0.88; 95% CI=0.86-0.89, p<.0001)] in a nationally representative sample of US women. No significant interaction was observed between any domain of the mother–father relationship and perceived maternal residential environment (all p > 0.05) in a sample of African American women. Additionally, no significant association was found between the quality of mother–father relationship and preterm birth (Trust domain: APR=1.03, 95% CI=0.99-1.07; dependability domain: APR=1.01, 95% CI=0.98-1.06; criticism domain: APR=1.03, 95% CI=0.99-1.07). The association between neighborhood deprivation and preterm birth in a geographic cohort of women in Richmond city, Virginia, was not mediated by neighborhood violence (β=0.063, 95% CI= –0.025, 0.151). Conclusions: Rates of preterm birth in women exposed to neighborhood violence may be improved by providing adequate social support during the pregnancy period. Insufficient evidence was found to support the modifying effect of perceived residential environment on the association between the mother-father relationship and preterm birth, as well as the mediational effect of neighborhood violence on the association between neighborhood deprivation and preterm birth. Future studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Even if the courtyard as a specific area lacks a clear description within PBL, there is a relatively unified view of what the courtyard is within research and academic work. The view of the courtyard as an extension of the living room has been repeated by several and suggests that the courtyard is a place that should accommodate and enable uses connected to the home. This common meaning is not only valid for our time but also historically. The Swedish courtyards have throughout history been marked as a compiling surface for what the home was unable to provide as well as being an insight into the spirit of the times. In a period where we live more isolated from our neighbors, the social context has changed, and the purpose of courtyards has become increasingly blurred.Based on three selected study areas, this paper aims to examine, from a planning perspective, the role of the Swedish courtyards in society and how they are used and can be used to fulfill more sustainable cities. Results show a generally passive attitude to the design of today's courtyards, where its outcome relies heavily on the developers' implementation. The result also shows the importance of creating spatiality, perceived emotions, and assets within the courtyard already during the planning stage in order to not only be able to offer attractive courtyards, but also sustainable environments within cities in a metropolitan environment. / Även om bostadsgården som specifik yta saknar tydlig skildring inom plan- och bygglagen (PBL) finns det inom forskning och verk en relativt enad syn på vad bostadsgården faktiskt är. Synen på bostadsgården som en förlängning av hemmet är en skildring som återkommer, vilken står för uppfattningen att gården är en plats som ska tillgodose och möjliggöra användning som är kopplat till hemmet. Denna gemensamma bild är inte bara giltig för vår tid utan även historiskt. Utöver att bostadsgårdar under historien utgjort en kompletterande yta till hemmet har de vidare speglat, och därmed även gett en insyn i, tidens anda. I en period där vi lever mer isolerat från våra grannar har gården som en självklar social yta ändrats och bostadsgårdars syfte har blivit alltmer suddigt. Baserat på tre utvalda studieområden har denna studie utifrån ett planeringsperspektiv undersökt bostadsgårdars roll i dagens samhälle, och hur de används och kan användas för att bidra till mer hållbara städer. Resultatet visar på en generellt passiv hållning till utformning av dagens bostadsgårdar, där utfallet till stor del överlämnas åt byggherrarna i själva genomförandefasen. Resultatet visar även på vikten att redan under planeringsskedet lägga fokus på att skapa rumslighet, planera för vilka känslor man tänker sig att bostadgården ska ge upphov till samt vilka funktioner gårdarna ska fylla. Detta för att inte bara kunna erbjuda attraktiva bostadsgårdar, utan även hållbara miljöer som en viktig beståndsdel i storstadsmiljöer.

Depuis les années 1960, les villes françaises sont soumises à un processus d'étalement urbain. Cet étalement se traduit par l'émergence d'une catégorie d'espace située à l'interface entre la ville et la campagne : le périurbain. Les caractéristiques sociales, urbanistiques, ou liées aux pratiques spatiales de ses habitants confèrent au périurbain une singularité et une spécificité propres. Il s'agit d'un espace de contradiction qui attire à la fois en raison du cadre de vie plutôt « naturel » qu'il offre aux ménages, mais également en raison de sa proximité avec la ville et des potentialités liées à l'accessibilité à diverses aménités urbaines.Pour comprendre plus finement cet engouement pour le périurbain, cette thèse propose d'explorer la relation individu-environnement résidentiel sous l'angle de la satisfaction que retirent les individus de leur cadre de vie. Il s'agit de mettre en relation une information de nature cognitive avec une information de nature spatiale. En modélisant chacune de ces composantes par l'utilisation d'indicateurs spécifiques, divers modèles statistiques sont mobilisés pour mettre en lumière les attributs spatiaux du cadre de vie susceptibles d'avoir une influence sur la satisfaction des individus.L'approche modélisatrice est centrale dans la démarche suivie. Après voir mené une enquête de satisfaction sur plus d'un millier de ménages vivant dans un secteur périurbain de Besançon, la démarche s'est attelée à construire des indicateurs en vue de caractériser deux types d'aménités de leur environnement résidentiel : le paysage et l'accessibilité aux commerces et services. Chacune de ces aménités est ensuite intégrée dans des modèles statistiques permettant d'évaluer leur contribution dans le degré de satisfaction du ménage.La démarche, essentiellement modélisatrice et exploratoire, offre toutefois des perspectives intéressantes dans le domaine de l'aménagement du territoire et de la planification urbaine. En ayant recours à des modèles simples et reproductibles, il s'agit de d'établir des documents cartographiques décrivant le potentiel de satisfaction à grande échelle. / Since the 1960s, French cities are concerned with an urban sprawl process. This urban sprawl leads to the emergence of a particular space located at the interface between the city and the countryside: the periurban. The social, morphological or the spatial practices of its inhabitants give the suburban a particular singularity and specificity. It is a space of contradiction that attracts both because of the "natural" living environment that it provides to households, but also because of its proximity to the city and the opportunities related to accessibility to various urban amenities.To understand more precisely this enthusiasm for periurban areas, this thesis proposes to explore the individual-residential environment relationship in terms of the satisfaction. The aim is to link a cognitive information with a spatial information. By modeling each of these components by the use of specific indicators, various statistical models are used to highlight the spatial attributes of the living environment that influence the satisfaction level of individuals.The modeling approach is central in this thesis. After the establishment of a satisfaction survey conducted on more than one thousand households living in a suburban area of ​​Besancon, the process is to build indicators to characterize two types of residential amenities: the landscape and the accessibility to shops and services. Each of these amenities is then incorporated into statistical models to assess their contribution to the satisfaction of the household.The approach essentially modeling and exploratory offers interesting perspectives in the field of urban planning. By using basic and reproducible models, one of the objectives is to build mapping documents describing the potential of satisfaction on a large scale.