Integrated landscapes of home and neighbourhood: ageing well in urban Australia

Abstract

The desire for older people to age in place in an intergenerational community is widely recognised. While the literature has long affirmed the link between the biopsychosocial benefits of nature and well-being, there is a gap in the people-environment literature about the needs and aspirations of older people and the impact that health and functional limitation may have on ageing well in place. As home is integral to and inseparable from the neighbourhood, it is essential that locale be considered in context. This qualitative study explores the perceptions of a group of older Australians living independently in the community. Between 2008 and 2010, 30 self-selected individuals (24 females and six males), 65 to 92 years of age, living in suburbs of Sydney, Australia, participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews at their homes. These interviews encompassed a broad-ranging discussion about their experiences of their local environments, including views to the outside to the transitional areas of the home garden and beyond into the neighbourhood. Following the one-on-one interviews, an optional, open-ended mobile interview into the neighbourhood was conducted with most of the participants, either on foot or by motorised mobility scooter (MMS). In addition, a visual method, still colour photography, was used to capture the features discussed and to document the neighbourhood environment. The overarching theme for ageing well at home was found to encompass amenity of place integrated with neighbourhood landscape affordance, which provides an inclusive landscape in everyday life. Neighbourhood amenity is dependent on a predominance of urban nature which in turn, contributes to scenic landscape. This was found to encourage older people to engage in repeated discretionary or optional activity outside of the dwelling. An unexpected outcome was the identification of four mobility-related personas, which are constellations of characteristics representative of my sample of participants who were the focus of my qualitative research. Use of these four personas will enable future researchers to study landscape in relation to older people and will inform the planning and design of residential environments which support healthy ageing in place