Elsevier

Journal of Aging Studies

Volume 29, April 2014, Pages 9-19
Journal of Aging Studies

Residential normalcy and environmental experiences of very old people: Changes in residential reasoning over time

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2013.12.005Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Relocation and aging in place; residential reasoning, of very old people is examined.

  • The participants struggled to be in comfort and mastery zones to be able to stay put.

  • Partcipants movig voluntarily attached to a dwelling by making spaces into places.

  • Moves at end of life impact differently on adjustment and residential normalcy.

  • Suggestions for further theoretical development on residential reasoning are made.

Abstract

The decision to relocate in old age is intricately linked to thoughts and desires to stay put. However, most research focuses either on strategies that allow people to age in place or on their reasons for relocation. There is a need for more knowledge on very old peoples' residential reasoning, including thoughts about aging in place and thoughts about relocation as one intertwined process evolving in everyday life. The aim of this study was to explore what we refer to as the process of residential reasoning and how it changes over time among very old people, and to contribute to the theoretical development regarding aging in place and relocation. Taking a longitudinal perspective, data stem from the ENABLE-AGE In-depth Study, with interviews conducted in 2003 followed up in interviews in 2011. The 16 participants of the present study were 80–89 years at the time of the first interview. During analysis the Theoretical Model of Residential Normalcy by Golant and the Life Course Model of Environmental Experience by Rowles & Watkins were used as sensitizing concepts. The findings revealed changes in the process of residential reasoning that related to a wide variety of issues. Such issues included the way very old people use their environmental experience, their striving to build upon or dismiss attachment to place, and their attempts to maintain or regain residential normalcy during years of declining health and loss of independence. In addition, the changes in reasoning were related to end-of-life issues. The findings contribute to the theoretical discussion on aging in place, relocation as a coping strategy, and reattachment after moving in very old age.

Introduction

The decision to relocate is intricately linked with thoughts and desires to remain in the home as long as possible when aging (Cutchin, 2001, Löfqvist et al., 2013). However, the topics of relocation and aging in place are far too often treated separately (Wiles, Leibing, Guberman, Reeve, & Allen, 2011). Older people who are at the moment aging in place might have experience from several previous moves and some older people might in fact have decided to move into their current dwelling in order to be able to age in place. More profound knowledge on how older people reason regarding their living arrangements when balancing goals and desires in everyday life with increasing health decline as they age is needed. To gain greater understanding of such issues, we conducted an empirical study of changes in the processes of reasoning of older people concerning relocation and aging in place.

The fact that most people want to age in place has received much interest among policy makers and researchers. This interest is reflected in the increasing number of scholarly articles on the topic (Vasunilashorn, Steinman, Liebig, & Pynoos, 2012). According to the same authors, a strong focus has been placed on the need for support and care systems that make it possible for older people to remain in the home despite decline in health. The existing literature on relocation in old age deals with decision-making, reasons for moving, and the process of the actual move (Oswald and Rowles, 2007, Oswald et al., 2002). Declining health and the need for assistance for oneself or a spouse are common reasons for moving (see Cheek et al., 2006, Erickson et al., 2006, Sergeant and Ekerdt, 2008), and relocation in old age is considered as a major life event (Sergeant, Ekerdt, & Chapin, 2008). The process that precedes the decision to move can be extended over a long period of time (Nygren and Iwarsson, 2009, Young, 1998). It is associated with ambivalent thoughts and emotions and perceived as an ambiguous matter (Löfqvist et al., 2013). To age in place can as well be seen as a process where the older individual constantly adjusts to declining health and other age-related changes to be able to stay put in the home (Oswald et al., 2011, Wiles et al., 2011). However, despite the considerable number of studies on relocation and aging in place, empirically grounded studies regarding the intertwined, evolving process on where to grow old, in this paper referred to as residential reasoning, are scarce. Introducing the term residential reasoning, we intend to deepen the knowledge on how older people reason about relocation in relation to aging in place. Residential reasoning is a changing process that covers both decision-making and adjustment by applying a life course perspective and an ecological perspective. That is, previous life experiences as well as present experiences gained when the aging individual interacts with the home environment form each individual's process of residential reasoning.

The relationship and congruence between the aging individual and the physical and social environment are the core of environmental gerontology. In this field there has been an increased emphasis on the meaningful content of person–environment transactions, which has in turn brought greater focus to terms as place and home (Diaz Moore and Ekerdt, 2011, Oswald and Wahl, 2013). Place can be defined as “the psychological, social and architectural attributes of settings that contribute to how place is experienced by individuals or groups” (Scheidt & Windley, 2006, p. 122). In this study, we want to relate theories from the field of environmental gerontology to the process of residential reasoning of older people. The process perspective on residential reasoning can be found in theories, put forward by scholars in environmental gerontology. One such theory is the Theoretical Model of Residential Normalcy2 (Golant, 2011, Golant, 2012). It highlights, that the decisions of older people to age in place or move can be linked to the subjective assessments of their residential settings and the strategies they use to cope with their unmet needs and goals. Another example of the process perspective is the Life Course Model of Environmental Experience3 (Rowles & Watkins, 2003), which focuses on the reattachment process after a move. Both models take into account the present living situation as well as the accumulated experiences throughout the life course. That is, both models take a process- or life course perspective. The Model of Residential Normalcy and the Model of Environmental Experience have to the best of our knowledge not yet been applied in empirical studies.

According to Golant (2011), older people have residential normalcy when they live in residential environments that are congruent with their needs and goals, i.e., when they are in their comfort and mastery zones. In the residential comfort zone, people experience pleasurable, hassle-free and memorable feelings about where they live, and when in the residential mastery zone, they occupy places where they feel generally competent and in control. Since competence and control are potentially contradictory, each individual makes an overall judgment regarding the experience of environmental mastery in his/her present situation. Undesirable changes relating to, for example, health, social network or physical environment issues can lead to a new and unfavorable interpretation of the situation, and people might find themselves out of their comfort and mastery zones. In such situations, people tend to initiate accommodative (mind strategies) and/or assimilative (action strategies) forms of coping to regain residential normalcy. According to this model, a move is the most strenuous coping strategy and will only be used voluntarily when four conditions are met; a) other adaptive efforts have not been sufficient to regain residential normalcy; b) moving is considered a feasible option; c) the individual believes that the move will improve their residential experiences; and d) the individual does not perceive the actual move as too strenuous.

In the Model of Environmental Experience, two core concepts, space and place describe the manner in which people attach to a new living environment. A space transforms into a place when the individual using it feels attached to it and it is loaded with meaning. Home is a specific type of place (Rowles, 1987). According to Rowles and Watkins (2003), being in place in a living environment, is a state characterized by feeling comfortable and at home in an environment which has a physical intimacy and social meaning. The sense of being in place is shaped by the autobiographical component, i.e., the individuals' unique life-story. Each move to a new setting or adjustment to change in the current dwelling involves a process of transforming the newly reconfigured space into a place. This transformation is accomplished by transferring past environmental experiences to the new space, integrating former experiences into the new circumstances and redefining one's own individual view of being in place. According to this model, making spaces into places is a skill that evolves over the life course where history, habits, heart and hearth are interwoven elements. People with little or bad experience of transforming spaces into places develop poor place-making skills and might not be able to attach to a new dwelling after a move. Such experiences thus have a negative influence on the individual's well-being.

Theories such as those above can be linked to empirical data by using them as sensitizing concepts. A sensitizing concept is an idea, theory or concept deriving from a literature review that gives guidance in approaching data (Thornberg, 2012). Sensitizing concepts can enhance sensitivity to nuances in the data and stimulate questions during the analysis process. These concepts can help the researcher to make constant comparisons between the data and the literature and thus to elaborate, revise or criticize pre-existing knowledge and extant theories (Corbin and Strauss, 2008, Thornberg, 2012). Even though using sensitizing concepts might direct the attention away from possibly relevant aspects of the data (Bowen, 2006), this approach enables the cumulative generation of knowledge, which pure inductive methods sometimes are criticized for not being able to accomplish (Bryant, 2009, Thornberg, 2012).

Utilizing the Model of Residential Normalcy (Golant, 2011) and the Model of Environmental Experience (Rowles & Watkins, 2003) as sensitizing concepts, the aim of this study was to explore the process of residential reasoning and how it changes over time among very old people. An additional aim was to discuss the implications of applying the models in empirical studies and in this way to contribute to the theoretical discussion on aging in place and relocation.

Section snippets

Method

This study is an extension of the Swedish and German part of the ENABLE-AGE In-depth Study (N = 80), the qualitative section of the ENABLE-AGE Project. The overarching aim of the project was to explore home and health relationships for those of very old age (Iwarsson et al., 2007). The present study applied a qualitative longitudinal design (Saldana, 2003), to analyze in-depth interviews carried out on two occasions, eight years apart.

Findings

Based on the examples of Margret, Anna, Carl, Beth and Edgar, we will describe some important aspects of changes in the process of residential reasoning. They will also provide a context in the second part of the findings to the theoretical discussion, on aging in place and relocation in relation to the two models used as sensitizing concepts.

Concluding remarks

The overall findings revealed changes in the process of residential reasoning of very old people. We studied their reasoning processes in relation to their use of environmental experience, their striving to build upon or dismiss attachment and their efforts to maintain or regain residential normalcy during years of declining health and loss of independence. The present study indicates that people are not always able to make use of such experiences and skills when moving involuntarily or when

Acknowledgments

We thank the interviewer teams that conducted the interviews in 2003 in Sweden and Germany: Agneta Malmgren Fänge, Synneve Dahlin-Ivanoff, Dörte Naumann, Regina Klink and Sabine Varnhorn. We are grateful to Dr. Stephen M. Golant, University of Florida, and Dr. Graham D. Rowles, University of Kentucky, for valuable input in different stages of the preparation of the manuscript. This study was supported by the Swedish Research Council and the Ribbingska Foundation, Lund, Sweden. It was

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