What Is Aging in Place? Confusions and Contradictions

ABSTRACT

Aging in place is a policy goal for many governments and a personal goal for numerous older people. But what does it mean? Drawing on both scholarly and gray literature, this article outlines seven themes underlying definitions of aging in place. Some are descriptive: never moving, staying put for as long as possible, or remaining in the same vicinity. Two are related to care: staying out of a nursing home or receiving progressively higher levels of care in the same residential care facility without moving. Others are more normative approaches: aging in place as a policy ideal or as an exercise of choice. Definitions have implications for policy debates, urban planning activities, development approaches, and personal decisions. Recognizing that the term has many different definitions and nuances will help clarify policy, planning, and development options.

KEYWORDS:

• housing
• neighborhood
• policy
• care

Acknowledgments

We thank Har Ye Kan, Ashley Tannebaum, Yingying Lu, and the anonymous reviewers for their interesting insights on this topic.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ann Forsyth

Trained in planning and architecture, Ann Forsyth works mainly on the social aspects of physical planning and urban development. The big issue behind her research and practice is how to make more sustainable and healthy cities. Her current research focuses on developing healthier places in a suburbanizing world, with overlapping emphases on aging and planned communities. She is the Ruth and Frank Stanton Professor of Urban Planning at Harvard University.

Jennifer Molinsky

Jennifer Molinsky is a senior research associate at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University and a lecturer in urban planning and design. She manages the center’s research on housing for older adults and was lead author on several publications, including The State of the Nation’s Housing for Older Adults (2018 and 2019); Older Households 2015–2035: Projections and Implications for Housing a Growing Population (2016); and Housing America’s Older Adults: Meeting the Needs of an Aging Population (2014).