Exploring aging in place inquiry through the lens of resilience theory

ABSTRACT

Many late-life older adults prefer remaining in one’s home among familiar and comforting surroundings until life’s end. However, this may be a challenging pursuit due to accelerating physical and cognitive declines. Researchers, designers, and care providers grapple to identify strategies which best support aging in place. Resilience theory offers a new lens which has not been explored by previous researchers. Through observations and interviews, we explored what adaptive qualities and actions ten late-life older adults utilized to age in place. Results show that the interviewees applied personal resilience across a range of challenges. We discuss vignettes within a framework of established theories which address successful alignment of person-environment (P-E) transactions and situate our findings within foundational and nascent explorations of resilience theory. We explore the need to investigate resilience as a distinguishable personal factor which greatly impacts late-life aging in place. Because resilience includes protective factors as well as adaptive processes, it adds to the current discourse of how resilient late-life older adults utilize personal agency and goal direction to proactively sustain daily living at home. Finally, we propose the term habitational resilience to encompass the connection between personal adaptiveness and resulting effective interactions within the home environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Aging in place
• resilience theory
• P-E fit theory
• person-environment transactions
• personal adaptations
• habitational resilience

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gloria E. Stafford

Gloria E. Stafford (Ph.D.) is an Assistant Professor of Interior Design at the University of Northern Iowa. She earned her Ph.D. in Human Environmental Sciences with an emphasis in Architectural Studies: Environment and Behavior, and a graduate certificate in Gerontology from the University of Missouri; an M.A. in Interior Design from Savannah College of Art and Design; and a B.A from the University of Minnesota.

Her research focus within the field of Environmental Gerontology is on the late-life experience of aging in place, with a focus on person-environment transactions within the socio-physical environment of the home within a community context. As an educator, she strives to foster empathy and understanding of the human experience within the built environment.

She is a Certified Interior Designer in Minnesota and has NCIDQ and LEED-AP ID+C certifications. She is affiliated with the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC), and the Housing Education and Research Association (HERA).

Gowri Betrabet Gulwadi

Gowri Betrabet Gulwadi, (Ph.D., LEED AP) is a Professor of Interior Design at the University of Northern Iowa. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Bangalore University India, and a doctoral degree in Architecture: Environment Behavior Studies from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.

She facilitates the learning process of design students, emphasizing the importance of socio-cultural context and sustainability, and engaging pedagogical techniques that encourage reflection. Her research addresses salutogenic perspectives in health and restoration from stress, the ways in which people seek restorative experiences in their everyday environments, and design interventions that can help make challenging environments more manageable. At UNI, she works with various initiatives related to sustainability in the curriculum.

She is affiliated with the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA), the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC), and the International Association of People-Environment Studies (IAPS).