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Purpose: The aim of this work is to examine the relationship between aspects of objective and perceived housing and aspects of healthy aging, defined as independence in daily activities and subjective well-being. Furthermore, this research examined the comparability of relationships between housing and healthy aging in the five European countries. Design and Methods: Data were drawn from the ENABLE-AGE Project, from home interviews with a sample of 1,918 very old people aged 75 to 89 years living alone in their own homes in Swedish, German, British, Hungarian and Latvian urban areas. Results: Participants living in better accessible homes, who perceive their home as meaningful and useful, and who think that external influences are not responsible for their housing situation are more independent in daily activities and have a better sense of well-being. Moreover, these results apply to all five national samples. Implications: The findings can widen the perspective when striving for barrier-free building standards, to encompass a holistic approach that takes both objective and perceived aspects of housing into account. Home modification and relocation should not be prescribed, but need to be negotiated with older adults to take into account their personal preferences.

Purpose: Our purpose in this study was to explore relationships between aspects of objective and perceived housing in five European samples of very old adults, as well as to investigate whether cross-national comparable patterns exist. Design and Methods: We utilized data from the first wave of the ENABLE-AGE Survey Study. The five national samples totalled 1,918 individuals aged 75 to 89 years. Objective assessments of the home environment covered the number of environmental barriers as well as the magnitude of accessibility problems (an aspect of person-environment fit). To assess perceptions of housing, we used instruments on usability, meaning of home, and housing satisfaction. We also assessed housing-related control. Results: Overall, the results revealed that the magnitude of accessibility problems, rather than the number of physical environmental barriers, was associated with perceptions of activity-oriented aspects of housing. That is, very old people living in more accessible housing perceived their homes as more useful and meaningful in relation to their routines and everyday activities, and they were less dependent on external control in relation to their housing. The patterns of such relationships were similar in the five national samples. Implications: Objective and perceived aspects of housing have to be considered in order to understand the dynamics of aging in place, and the results can be used in practice contexts that target housing for senior citizens.

Purpose: We investigate whether psychological control, conceptually framed within the life-span theory of control by Heckhausen and Schulz, drives assistive device use in visually impaired elders. In particular, we expect the two primary control modes differentiated in the life-span theory of control (i.e., selective primary and compensatory primary control) to be positively related to assistive device use. We present cross-sectional as well as repeated measures analyses. Design and Methods: We assessed a sample of 71 participants (age, M = 79.5 years) suffering from age-related macular degeneration at two measurement occasions covering a 1-year interval. In addition to the application of a standardized control questionnaire based on the life-span theory of control distinctions of different control modes, we measured assistive device use as the reported number of devices used, based on a given list. Results: On the bivariate level, we could find the theoretically expected relation between selective primary control and selective compensatory control only for the analyses at Time 1. We used multiple regression models to acknowledge overlapping variance beneath the different control modes; we did this separately for both measurement occasions. Consistent with our expectation, we found selective primary control to be a significant predictor of assistive device use at Time 1, whereas after a 1-year period of disease progression, compensatory primary control took over at Time 2. Implications: Findings provide empirical support for the assumption that educational programs related to assistive device use in visually impaired elders also should take psychological control issues more strongly into consideration.

Background and Objectives To determine whether a multicomponent, individually tailored intervention to promote physical activity (PA) enhances life-space (LS) utilization in nursing home (NH) residents and whether intervention effects can be sustained at follow-up after continuation of the program as part of institutional daily routines. Research Design and Methods Pre-post-assessed controlled trial in two highly similar NHs with a 3month follow-up in 143 NH residents (intervention group: n = 78; control group: n = 65) and LS as primary outcome. The PA promoting intervention consisted of several components (group sessions; individual exercise; serious games training; competence training for staff) tailored to residents’ individual functional capacity. LS was innovatively assessed via an indoor wireless sensor network including three assessment-specific LS parameters: overall LS score (LSSc), time spent away from the private room (TAFR), and the maximally distal zone from private room visited (MaxZ). To exploit the available intervention-control comparative data in the best way possible, a generalized linear mixed model approach was applied. Results At post-test, intervention participants had a significantly higher overall LSSc, spent more TAFR, and had extended their MaxZ as compared to controls. At follow-up, a significant group difference remained for MaxZ. Discussion and Implications A PA intervention in the NH setting impacts on LS utilization as measured using sensor-based assessment. The program has proven its practical sustainability when being handed over to NH personnel for continuation in daily practice. Further research is needed to determine whether an increase in LS utilization also impacts on social participation and quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this work is to examine the relationship between aspects of objective and perceived housing and aspects of healthy aging, defined as independence in daily activities and subjective well-being. Furthermore, this research examined the comparability of relationships between housing and healthy aging in the five European countries. Design and Methods: Data were drawn from the ENABLE-AGE Project, from home interviews with a sample of 1,918 very old people aged 75 to 89 years living alone in their own homes in Swedish, German, British, Hungarian and Latvian urban areas. Results: Participants living in better accessible homes, who perceive their home as meaningful and useful, and who think that external influences are not responsible for their housing situation are more independent in daily activities and have a better sense of well-being. Moreover, these results apply to all five national samples. Implications: The findings can widen the perspective when striving for barrier-free building standards, to encompass a holistic approach that takes both objective and perceived aspects of housing into account. Home modification and relocation should not be prescribed, but need to be negotiated with older adults to take into account their personal preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Our purpose in this study was to explore relationships between aspects of objective and perceived housing in five European samples of very old adults, as well as to investigate whether cross-national comparable patterns exist. Design and Methods: We utilized data from the first wave of the ENABLE-AGE Survey Study. The five national samples totalled 1,918 individuals aged 75 to 89 years. Objective assessments of the home environment covered the number of environmental barriers as well as the magnitude of accessibility problems (an aspect of person-environment fit). To assess perceptions of housing, we used instruments on usability, meaning of home, and housing satisfaction. We also assessed housing-related control. Results: Overall, the results revealed that the magnitude of accessibility problems, rather than the number of physical environmental barriers, was associated with perceptions of activity-oriented aspects of housing. That is, very old people living in more accessible housing perceived their homes as more useful and meaningful in relation to their routines and everyday activities, and they were less dependent on external control in relation to their housing. The patterns of such relationships were similar in the five national samples. Implications: Objective and perceived aspects of housing have to be considered in order to understand the dynamics of aging in place, and the results can be used in practice contexts that target housing for senior citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We investigate whether psychological control, conceptually framed within the life-span theory of control by Heckhausen and Schulz, drives assistive device use in visually impaired elders. In particular, we expect the two primary control modes differentiated in the life-span theory of control (i.e., selective primary and compensatory primary control) to be positively related to assistive device use. We present cross-sectional as well as repeated measures analyses. Design and Methods: We assessed a sample of 71 participants (age, M = 79.5 years) suffering from age-related macular degeneration at two measurement occasions covering a 1-year interval. In addition to the application of a standardized control questionnaire based on the life-span theory of control distinctions of different control modes, we measured assistive device use as the reported number of devices used, based on a given list. Results: On the bivariate level, we could find the theoretically expected relation between selective primary control and selective compensatory control only for the analyses at Time 1. We used multiple regression models to acknowledge overlapping variance beneath the different control modes; we did this separately for both measurement occasions. Consistent with our expectation, we found selective primary control to be a significant predictor of assistive device use at Time 1, whereas after a 1-year period of disease progression, compensatory primary control took over at Time 2. Implications: Findings provide empirical support for the assumption that educational programs related to assistive device use in visually impaired elders also should take psychological control issues more strongly into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]