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Abstract
In his newest book, preeminent gerontologist and architect Victor Regnier shares innovative international housing and care service models that serve mentally and physically frail elders. He presents a trio of options drawn from the U.S. and northern Europe – Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and the Netherlands. These options include the Dutch Apartment/Condo for Life Model (AFL); decentralized Small/Green House nursing homes; and the provision of enhanced personal and medical care for people who want to stay in their own home. Designed to inform diverse student and professional audiences in the design professions and gerontology, the book offers a plethora of information addressing what older people want; what age changes affect independence; demographics and living arrangements; how long-term care is defined; concepts and objectives for housing the frail; caregiving and management practices that avoid an institutional lifestyle; innovative case studies; programs that encourage staying at home with service assistance; therapeutic use of outdoor spaces; how technology will help people stay independent; and more. In this book review, Dr. Rick Scheidt, JHE editorial board member, and environmental gerontologist, conducts a personal interview with author Victor Regnier about the three primary housing options illustrated in his book and the critical challenges architects and caregivers face in discovering new ways to support independence and aging in place for our most vulnerable elders. The focus is on how today’s most innovative practices can help shape the future.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Rick J. Scheidt
Victor Regnier FAIA is a teacher, researcher, and architect who has focused his academic and professional life on the design of housing and community settings for older people. He holds a joint professorship between the USC School of Architecture and the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, which is the only joint appointment of this type in the U.S. He is also a Fellow in both the American Institute of Architects and the Gerontological Society of America. From 1992 until 1996 he served as USC’s Dean of the School of Architecture.
He has published 10 books/monographs as well as 60 articles and book chapters dealing with various aspects of housing and community planning for the elderly. His newest book – which is the subject of this article – is entitled Housing for an Increasingly Older Population: Redefining Assisted Living for the Mentally and Physically Frail (see ). Wiley, 2018. A translation of this work in Chinese is currently underway. He has received awards for his scholarship from the American Society of Landscape Architects, the American Planning Association and Phi Kappa Phi, as well as two Progressive Architecture Research Awards. He has also received two Fulbright research awards (northern Europe (1992) and Portugal (2014)) and the Thord-Grey Award from the American-Scandinavian Foundation.
Victor’s interest in balancing theory with practice has led to many different honors. For example, he is the only architect to receive the Gerontological Society of America’s M. Powell Lawton Award for applied research. USC Architecture named him as their “2007 Distinguished Alumnus”. In 2008, in recognition of his teaching and research, the American Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) made him an ACSA Distinguished Professor.
As an academic, he has directed over 20 research projects dealing with diverse topics such as the behavioral impact of the environment on people with dementia, children’s museums and homeless shelters. His design research findings have been presented at over 200 professional and scientific conferences as well as more than 100 university lectures and symposia. He has served on the editorial or advisory board of 9 journals or professional magazines.
As a teacher, Professor Regnier was named a USC Mortar Board Professor.
As a designer/practicing architect, he has provided consultation advice during the last 40 years on over 400 building projects in 38 states, Canada, Germany, and England. Projects on which he has consulted have won over 50 state and national design awards.