Towards Critical Intersections of Ageing, Housing and Well-Being

ABSTRACT

Across the life course, far-reaching socio-demographic and health related transformations are influencing the meaning of home in the UK. The collection presented in this Special Issue of Home Futures critically interjects into the ‘where and when’ of dwelling during the process of ageing with key concepts explored within this introductory article. It argues that, change is seen through the disruption of conventional ideas of ageing ‘at home’, traditional understandings of ‘the older person’ and its corollary social imaginaries, alongside the relationship between care practices and homes. Many of these shifts are being addressed through a range of emerging housing (and collaborative) alternatives. The article concludes by considering how discussions in this special issue disclose the home, from a range of social and material angles, as a diverse process and experience of meaning making over time, deeply entangled with health and well-being, disrupting traditional understandings of ‘place making’ in later life.

KEYWORDS:

• ageing
• housing
• well-being
• home futures
• care
• design
• lifecourse

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Melissa Fernández Arrigoitia

MELISSA FERNÁNDEZ ARRIGOITIA IS A LECTURER IN URBAN FUTURES AT LANCASTER UNIVERSITÝS SOCIOLOGY DEPARMENT. HER RESEARCH FOCUSES ON THE PRODUCTION AND DESTRUCTION OF ALTERNATIVE AND SOCIAL HOMES IN TIMES OF MULTIPLE CRISES, WITH PARTICULAR INTEREST ON ACTIVIST AND COHOUSING INITIATIVES. [email protected]

Karen West

KAREN WESTIS A PROFESSOR OF SOCIAL POLICY AND SOCIAL GERONTOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL AND A SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUE FOR HEALTH RESEACH SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL CARE RESEARCH. HER RESEARCH LOOKS AT ALTERNATIVE CONCEPTS OF LATER LIFE LIVING, CARE AND SUPPORT AND CRITICAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF POLICY IN RELATION TO AGEING AND THE OLDER PERSON. [email protected]

Sheila Peace

SHEILA PEACEIS EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF SOCIAL GERONTOLOGY AT THE OPEN UNIVERSITY. SHE HAS A LONG HISTORY OF RESEARCH IN ENVIRONMENTAL GERONTOLOGY CONCERNING HOUSING, CARE AND COMMUNITY INTEGRATION. [email protected]