The Impact of the Sense of Home on the Quality of Life of Older Adults in Tabriz, Iran

Abstract

With the advent of aging population, the quality of life of older adults has become an ever more imperative focus of research. However, the impact of a sense of home on the quality of life of older adults has not received the full recognition it deserves yet. The present study is based on the following assumptions (1) older adults living in residential care facilities would have a better understanding of how it feels like to live in one’s home precisely because of living away from home; (2) older adults living at home would be affected in terms of quality of life by their subconscious perceptions of sense of home despite lacking an explicit familiarity with the concept. This study aims to identify the concept of a sense of home and evaluate its impact on the quality of life of older adults. To this end, through a qualitative analysis of participant interviews, we extracted the main themes of a sense of home for older adults dwelling in residential care facilities in Tabriz, Iran. Also, to ensure reliability, we tested the extracted themes quantitatively and interviewed a questionnaire in a wider statistical population. Our findings indicate that on the one hand, older adults feel satisfied with the residential aspect of where they live if they are provided with privacy, easily navigable routes, collective spaces, mental health. On the other, they can also achieve physical, social, and mental health and feel satisfied with the care provision dimension of where they live if they are provided with internal and external facilities such as easily walkable paths to avoid collapsing or injury, accessible health care options, chances of social interaction, as well as peace and serenity. The conclusion is that by providing a context for privacy, social interaction, independence, and memorability, a place can leave a positive impact on self-esteem, happiness, life satisfaction, and ultimately quality of life among older adults.

Keywords:

• Sense of home
• quality of life
• older adults
• Tabriz

Acknowledgments

This article is taken from the third author’s master’s thesis entitled “Designing a Residential Care Center for the Elderly with the Sense of Home” which was accomplished with the guidance of the first author and with the advice of the second author at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Development of Tabriz Islamic Art University.

Ethics approval

The need for ethical approval was waived (Research Ethics Committee of University of Tabriz, Ethics Code: IR.TABRIZU.REC) due to the character of the study. 1. At first, the participants were introduced to the research subject and Written consent was obtained from participants. 2. Interview and questionnaire answers were completely confidential and used solely for the purpose of this study. 3. No identifiable information was asked from the participants, only anonymous personal opinions and viewpoints were collected. 4. Participants were informed about their unconditional right to withdraw from the study.

Disclosure statement

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

Data availability statement

The datasets used during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Authors’ contributions

MGH and SHR designed the study. SHR conducted the data collection and compiled the collected data. Each step of the analysis was scrutinized, discussed, and analyzed by MGH, HB, and SHR, who also made critical revisions to the manuscript. All of the authors read and approved the final manuscript.