Nygren Carita, Iwarsson Susanne
Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Box 157, 221 00 Lund, Sweden.
Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, J.B. Winsløvs vej 9B, 5000 Odense C, Denmark.
Eur J Ageing. 2009 Jul 29;6(3):177-189. doi: 10.1007/s10433-009-0121-0. eCollection 2009 Sep.
The aim of this study was to explore how very old people consider and arrive at decisions on relocation, with specific attention to housing and health relationships during the process of ageing. The sample included 13 very old participants of an 11-year longitudinal study of relationships between housing and health. Applying a mixed-methods approach, data from qualitative interviews and quantitative survey data from three data collection waves were utilised. The quantitative data were interwoven with the qualitative findings into a coherent body of text. The core theme "Negotiating and effectuating relocation is a long process" indicates a non-linear process consisting of five phases constituting the main categories of our findings. In the first phase, some informants considered relocation while others avoided thinking about it. Next, relations between health and home changed and led to turning points triggering relocation, i.e. when dependence in everyday activities reached critical points or when sudden illness forced an involuntary move. In the third phase, once the decision to relocate was made it was set in stone by the individual, but often questioned by the authorities, leading to a situation causing much frustration. While waiting for the relocation, doubts as well as expectations about the new home were expressed. Finally, even though the actual move caused different feelings, it was most often a positive experience and resulted in subjective health improvement and increased social contacts. The results can be used for the development of positive, proactive strategies for improved housing provision along the ageing process.
本研究的目的是探讨高龄老人如何考虑并做出搬迁决定，尤其关注老龄化过程中住房与健康的关系。样本包括13名参与一项为期11年的住房与健康关系纵向研究的高龄参与者。采用混合方法，利用了来自定性访谈的数据以及来自三个数据收集阶段的定量调查数据。定量数据与定性研究结果交织在一起，形成了一个连贯的文本主体。核心主题“协商并实现搬迁是一个漫长的过程”表明这是一个非线性过程，由五个阶段组成，构成了我们研究结果的主要类别。在第一阶段，一些受访者考虑搬迁，而另一些人则避免思考此事。接下来，健康与家庭的关系发生变化，导致触发搬迁的转折点，即日常活动中的依赖达到临界点，或者突发疾病迫使非自愿搬迁。在第三阶段，一旦做出搬迁决定，个人就会确定下来，但当局常常对此提出质疑，导致产生令人非常沮丧的局面。在等待搬迁期间，人们表达了对新家的疑虑和期望。最后，尽管实际搬迁引发了不同的感受，但这通常是一次积极的经历，带来了主观健康状况的改善和社交联系的增加。这些结果可用于制定积极主动的策略，以在老龄化过程中改善住房供应。
