TY - JOUR
T1 - Contextual factors for aging well
T2 - Creating socially engaging spaces through the use of deliberative dialogues
AU - Canham, Sarah L.
AU - Fang, Mei Lan
AU - Battersby, Lupin
AU - Woolrych, Ryan
AU - Sixsmith, Judith
AU - Ren, Tori Hui
AU - Sixsmith, Andrew
N1 - This work was supported by the Vancouver Foundation.
PY - 2018/2
Y1 - 2018/2
N2 - Purpose of the Study: Home and community engagement are key contextual factors for aging well, particularly for older adults in vulnerable social positions. A community-based participatory action research project conducted in Western Canada examined how to best use the shared amenity spaces in a low-income seniors' apartment complex in order to connect services and programs with tenants and to provide opportunities for service providers and local stakeholders to build upon and create new relationships toward collaboration and service delivery. Design and Methods: Pre-move deliberative dialogue workshops (n = 4) were conducted with stakeholders (e.g., service providers, developers, and municipal government employees). Workshop participants (n = 24) generated ideas and plans on how physical and social environments can contribute to the social engagement of senior tenants. Results: Shared dialogue led to community investment and asset sharing by integrating the knowledge and experiences of multiple stakeholder groups into the planning process. This article highlights how collaborative planning approaches for the effective use of the social environment (e.g., social programming), within the physical environment (e.g., amenity and community spaces), can generate rich and illuminating data for informing enhancements in the social environment of apartment dwelling low-income seniors. Contextual challenges to service provision are discussed, including the need for communication about and coordination of on-site programming, culturally diverse and responsive programming, and longterm funding. Implications: Prolonging independent community living with the assistance of support services should be a goal to both delay premature relocation into institutional care and meet the preferences of older adults.
AB - Purpose of the Study: Home and community engagement are key contextual factors for aging well, particularly for older adults in vulnerable social positions. A community-based participatory action research project conducted in Western Canada examined how to best use the shared amenity spaces in a low-income seniors' apartment complex in order to connect services and programs with tenants and to provide opportunities for service providers and local stakeholders to build upon and create new relationships toward collaboration and service delivery. Design and Methods: Pre-move deliberative dialogue workshops (n = 4) were conducted with stakeholders (e.g., service providers, developers, and municipal government employees). Workshop participants (n = 24) generated ideas and plans on how physical and social environments can contribute to the social engagement of senior tenants. Results: Shared dialogue led to community investment and asset sharing by integrating the knowledge and experiences of multiple stakeholder groups into the planning process. This article highlights how collaborative planning approaches for the effective use of the social environment (e.g., social programming), within the physical environment (e.g., amenity and community spaces), can generate rich and illuminating data for informing enhancements in the social environment of apartment dwelling low-income seniors. Contextual challenges to service provision are discussed, including the need for communication about and coordination of on-site programming, culturally diverse and responsive programming, and longterm funding. Implications: Prolonging independent community living with the assistance of support services should be a goal to both delay premature relocation into institutional care and meet the preferences of older adults.
KW - Home and community based care and services
KW - Housing, Access to and utilization of services
KW - Qualitative analysis: Thematic analysis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85041326122&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/geront/gnx121
DO - 10.1093/geront/gnx121
M3 - Article
C2 - 28977373
VL - 58
SP - 140
EP - 148
JO - Gerontologist
JF - Gerontologist
SN - 0016-9013
IS - 1
ER -