How Accommodative Are Houses in Trinidad? Implications for Older Persons With Disabilities

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the accommodation in houses in Trinidad in the context of older persons with disabilities. An exploratory sequential mixed-methods research design was used. In the qualitative phase, a list of accommodation items was identified via interviews. This information was used to develop a questionnaire to measure accommodation items of a large nationally representative sample of houses in Trinidad. Only physical accessibility items were identified, and data from 768 houses indicated that no house had all identified items. There is a need for urgent adoption and implementation of accessibility standards. Findings also indicate modification cost is a challenge and that responses targeted to low-income and rural households are needed. Lastly, the social care context, specifically the family care potential, is an important consideration in housing policy debates, and community homes for the aged and programs involving multiple experts to identify and support housing modification are recommended.

KEYWORDS:

• Accessibility
• accommodation
• disability
• older persons
• social care
• Trinidad

Ethical Approval

Ethical approval for the research was granted by the Campus Ethics Research Committee of the University of West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. Ethical Approval Number: CEC 209/05/17-Disability and Poverty in Trinidad.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 This value was calculated using the total population for the year 2022; a figure for the year 2050 was unavailable. For the global population, only percentages were available.

2 TTD denotes Trinidad and Tobago dollar.

3 The 19,000+ household income category is a combination of four categories (19,000–20,999, 21,000–22,999, 23,000–24,999, 25,000+). These were combined due to small frequencies for each category.

Additional information

Funding

The fieldwork was partially funded by The School for Graduate Studies and Research at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. Grant Number: CRP.5.APR17.62—Fieldwork/Data Collection: Area of Research: “Disability and Poverty in Trinidad.”

Notes on contributors

Bephyer Parey

Bephyer Parey is a Junior Research Fellow at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies at The University of the West Indies. Her research primarily focuses on persons with disabilities. With the overall aim of providing policy recommendations for a life-course oriented inclusion of persons with disabilities, her disability and poverty research agenda spans topics such as education, employment, social care, and wellbeing.

Leeann Sinanan

Leeann Sinanan is an Independent Researcher. She has a MSc in Applied Psychology and a BSc in Psychology from The University of the West Indies. Her research interests include healthcare and education.