Erce Paoli Mateja, Burnard Michael D
InnoRenew CoE, Izola, Slovenia.
Andrej Marušič Institute, University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia.
HERD. 2025 Oct;18(4):69-84. doi: 10.1177/19375867251343909. Epub 2025 Jun 25.
Europe's aging population faces resource loss, loneliness, and social isolation, making psychosocial well-being a priority. A well-designed environment can help compensate for lost resources, while poor design may harm health, highlighting environmental quality as key to successful aging. The aim of our study was to evaluate the link between psychosocial well-being, and the built environment. Participants from three retirement homes in Slovenia filled in the World Health Organization Wellbeing Index, the Brief Sense of Community, the Lubben Social Network Scale, the University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale, and the short version of the Social Production Function Instrument with the assistance of a researcher. Additionally, the built environment was objectively assessed using the EVOLVE tool and subjectively assessed by participants using a custom scale. Structural equation modeling was used to examine paths between the environment and wellbeing. The findings showed a statistically significant indirect effect of well-being on the perceived environment, while no indirect effects were found between the objective and perceived environment or well-being. However, specific objectively measured environmental factors, such as acceptability, features for sensory and dementia support, and perceived accessibility and aesthetic environmental attributes significantly affect well-being. These findings highlight the need to prioritize well-being in urban planning for aging populations. Beyond basic needs like safety, high-level needs like aesthetics, sensory support, and accessibility should be emphasized. Enhancing well-being through these factors may be effective when designing or modifying physical environments. Accessible, sensory-friendly, and dementia-supportive designs can further support healthy aging.
欧洲老龄化人口面临资源丧失、孤独和社会隔离问题，这使得心理社会幸福感成为优先事项。精心设计的环境有助于弥补资源损失，而设计不佳可能损害健康，凸显了环境质量是成功老龄化的关键。我们研究的目的是评估心理社会幸福感与建成环境之间的联系。来自斯洛文尼亚三家养老院的参与者在一名研究人员的协助下填写了世界卫生组织幸福感指数、社区归属感简表、鲁本社会网络量表、加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校孤独量表以及社会生产功能工具简版。此外，使用EVOLVE工具对建成环境进行客观评估，并由参与者使用自定义量表进行主观评估。采用结构方程模型来检验环境与幸福感之间的路径。研究结果显示，幸福感对感知环境有统计学上显著的间接影响，而在客观环境与感知环境或幸福感之间未发现间接影响。然而，特定的客观测量环境因素，如可接受性、感官和痴呆症支持功能、感知可达性和审美环境属性，对幸福感有显著影响。这些发现凸显了在针对老年人口的城市规划中优先考虑幸福感的必要性。除了安全等基本需求外，还应强调美学、感官支持和可达性等高层次需求。在设计或改造物理环境时，通过这些因素提升幸福感可能会有效果。无障碍、对感官友好且支持痴呆症患者的设计可以进一步促进健康老龄化。
