Overcoming Old in Age-Friendliness
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Overcoming Old in Age-Friendliness. / Lindenberg, J; Westendorp, Rudi GJ.
In: Journal of Social Work Practice, Vol. 29, No. 1, 2015, p. 85-98.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Overcoming Old in Age-Friendliness
AU - Lindenberg, J
AU - Westendorp, Rudi GJ
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - In this article, we explore views on an age-friendly space in the Netherlands by analysing the responses of older individuals (N = 54) in focus groups and by examining the perspectives around an age-friendly zone in the Netherlands, Parkstad Limburg. We found that a central issue in the wishes for living at a later age are adjustments to envisioned physical limitations that come with the ageing process; this includes adjustments to ensure safety, accessibility and mobility, in order to facilitate older individuals' efforts to stay engaged with the world around them. In their wishes, the older participants constructed ideal dwelling places that closely resembled a senior home, but at the same time they rejected wishing to live in a place that was identified as a senior home. We explain this paradox by the representation of such a space as being for old people, i.e. needy older individuals, which was not how the older participants wished to be identified. We conclude that the conception of age-friendly environments will have to face the difficult challenge of overcoming the association with old age, while simultaneously taking into account adjustments that signify and relate to the ageing process and that seem inescapably tied to oldness.
AB - In this article, we explore views on an age-friendly space in the Netherlands by analysing the responses of older individuals (N = 54) in focus groups and by examining the perspectives around an age-friendly zone in the Netherlands, Parkstad Limburg. We found that a central issue in the wishes for living at a later age are adjustments to envisioned physical limitations that come with the ageing process; this includes adjustments to ensure safety, accessibility and mobility, in order to facilitate older individuals' efforts to stay engaged with the world around them. In their wishes, the older participants constructed ideal dwelling places that closely resembled a senior home, but at the same time they rejected wishing to live in a place that was identified as a senior home. We explain this paradox by the representation of such a space as being for old people, i.e. needy older individuals, which was not how the older participants wished to be identified. We conclude that the conception of age-friendly environments will have to face the difficult challenge of overcoming the association with old age, while simultaneously taking into account adjustments that signify and relate to the ageing process and that seem inescapably tied to oldness.
U2 - 10.1080/02650533.2014.993949
DO - 10.1080/02650533.2014.993949
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 26028795
VL - 29
SP - 85
EP - 98
JO - Journal of Social Work Practice
JF - Journal of Social Work Practice
SN - 0265-0533
IS - 1
ER -
ID: 140392486