Towards a Better Understanding of the Sense of Safety and Security of Community-Dwelling Older Adults. The Case of the Age-Friendly City of The Hague

Joost van Hoof, Jeroen Dikken, Willeke H. van Staalduinen, Suzan van der Pas, Rudy F. M. van den Hoven and Loes M. T. Hulsebosch-Janssen
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Joost van Hoof: Research Group of Urban Ageing, Centre of Expertise Health Innovation, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Johanna Westerdijkplein 75, 2521 EN Den Haag, The Netherlands
Jeroen Dikken: Research Group of Urban Ageing, Centre of Expertise Health Innovation, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Johanna Westerdijkplein 75, 2521 EN Den Haag, The Netherlands
Willeke H. van Staalduinen: AFEdemy—Academy on age-friendly environments in Europe, Krugerlaan 111A, 2806 ED Gouda, The Netherlands
Suzan van der Pas: Faculty of Social Work & Applied Psychology, University of Applied Sciences Leiden, Zernikedreef 11, 2333 CK Leiden, The Netherlands
Rudy F. M. van den Hoven: Research Group of Urban Ageing, Centre of Expertise Health Innovation, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Johanna Westerdijkplein 75, 2521 EN Den Haag, The Netherlands
Loes M. T. Hulsebosch-Janssen: Hulsebosch Advies, Lissenvaart 43, 2724 SJ Zoetermeer, The Netherlands

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 7, 1-20

Abstract: The sense of safety and security of older people is a widely acknowledged action domain for policy and practice in age-friendly cities. Despite an extensive body of knowledge on the matter, the theory is fragmented, and a classification is lacking. Therefore, this study investigated how older people experience the sense of safety and security in an age-friendly city. A total of four focus group sessions were organised in The Hague comprising 38 older people. Based on the outcomes of the sessions, the sense of safety and security was classified into two main domains: a sense of safety and security impacted by intentional acts and negligence (for instance, burglary and violence), and a sense of safety and security impacted by non-intentional acts (for instance, incidents, making mistakes online). Both domains manifest into three separate contexts, namely the home environment, the outdoor environment and traffic and the digital environment. In the discussions with older people on these derived domains, ideas for potential improvements and priorities were also explored, which included access to information on what older people can do themselves to improve their sense of safety and security, the enforcement of rules, and continuous efforts to develop digital skills to improve safety online.

Keywords: model; classification; ageing; qualitative; risk; hazard; risk management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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