Home and Health in the Third Age — Methodological Background and Descriptive Findings

Maya Kylén, Henrik Ekström, Maria Haak, Sölve Elmståhl and Susanne Iwarsson
Additional contact information
Maya Kylén: Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, SE-22100, Sweden
Henrik Ekström: Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, SE-22100, Sweden
Maria Haak: Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, SE-22100, Sweden
Sölve Elmståhl: Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, SE-22100, Sweden
Susanne Iwarsson: Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, SE-22100, Sweden

IJERPH, 2014, vol. 11, issue 7, 1-21

Abstract: Background: The understanding of the complex relationship between the home environment, well-being and daily functioning in the third age is currently weak. The aim of this paper is to present the methodological background of the Home and Health in the Third Age Study, and describe a sample of men and women in relation to their home and health situation. Methods and Design: The study sample included 371 people aged 67–70, living in ordinary housing in the south of Sweden. Structured interviews and observations were conducted to collect data about objective and perceived aspects of home and health. Results: The majority of the participants were in good health and had few functional limitations. Women had more functional limitations and reported more symptoms than men. Environmental barriers were found in every home investigated; the most were found in the kitchen and hygiene area. Environmental barriers were more common in multi-family than in one-family dwellings. Discussion: This study will increase our knowledge on home and health dynamics among people in the third age. The results have potential to contribute to societal planning related to housing provision, home care and social services for senior citizens.

Keywords: activities of daily living; aging; housing; P-E fit; younger old (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/7/7060/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/7/7060/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:11:y:2014:i:7:p:7060-7080:d:38060

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().