Doctoral Dissertation Research: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Individual, Household, and Neighborhood-Level Factors Affecting the Health and Well-Being of Older Adults

University Of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis MN

Investigators

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation research project will investigate how housing and neighborhood designs affect the health and well-being of elder residents in U.S. metropolitan areas. The project will focus on aging and the built environment at the individual, household, and neighborhood level to address unique issues occurring in different types of urban communities. The project will provide new insights regarding how the built environment can be developed in specific ways that are more consistent with the needs of elders. Project findings will contribute to the spatial social sciences by expanding basic knowledge about the health and well-being of elder residents in relation to their home and neighborhood environments. The project will have practical implications by promoting more inclusive and sustainable urban planning and design that better meet the unique needs of diverse aging populations, with special emphasis on the experiences and needs of low-income, minority, and disabled older adults. The project will provide basic research exposure and experience to a diverse range of individuals, with special efforts made to provide research opportunities for students from underrepresented groups to participate in fieldwork and data analysis. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career. The project will aim to understand urban landscape challenges to "aging in place," an increasingly common phenomenon where elder residents stay in their longtime homes and communities instead of moving to institutional settings, such as assisted living facilities. The doctoral student will identify personal, household, and neighborhood level factors that affect elder residents' well-being and ability to "age in place" in a safe and supportive environment. The student will bridges theories and methods from geography and public health through a mixed-methods study in three distinct regions of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The first phase of research will involve sit-down and mobile interviews with 125 community-dwelling elder residents as well as environmental audits and spatial analyses of participants' homes and neighborhoods. The second phase will involve semi-longitudinal ethnographic sessions with a subset of participants. Interviews with civic staff and policy analysis in the third phase will focus on local planning and policy efforts. This multi-level investigation will produce new insights into the complex connections between elders and urban environments, and project results will inform urban planning and community design that tries to accommodate the distinctive needs of elder citizens in American society.