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Improved Housing Accessibility for Older People in Sweden and Germany: Short Term Costs and Long-Term Gains

Author

Listed:
  • Björn Slaug

    (Department of Health Sciences & Centre for Ageing and Supportive Environments (CASE), Lund University, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden)

  • Carlos Chiatti

    (Department of Health Sciences & Centre for Ageing and Supportive Environments (CASE), Lund University, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden)

  • Frank Oswald

    (Interdisciplinary Ageing Research, Faculty of Educational Sciences, Goethe University, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Germany)

  • Roman Kaspar

    (Cologne Center for Ethics, Rights, Economics, and Social Sciences of Health, University of Cologne, 50923 Cologne, Germany)

  • Steven M. Schmidt

    (Department of Health Sciences & Centre for Ageing and Supportive Environments (CASE), Lund University, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden)

Abstract

The physical housing environment is important to facilitate activities of daily living (ADL) for older people. A hindering environment may lead to ADL dependence and thus increase the need for home services, which is individually restricting and a growing societal burden. This study presents simulations of policy changes with regard to housing accessibility that estimates the potential impact specifically on instrumental activities of daily living (I-ADL), usage of home services, and related costs. The models integrate empirical data to test the hypothesis that a policy providing funding to remove the five most severe environmental barriers in the homes of older people who are at risk of developing dependence in I-ADL, can maintain independence and reduce the need for home services. In addition to official statistics from state agencies in Sweden and Germany, we utilized published results from the ENABLE-AGE and other scientific studies to generate the simulations. The simulations predicted that new policies that remove potentially hindering housing features would improve I-ADL performance among older people and reduce the need for home services. Our findings suggest that a policy change can contribute to positive effects with regard to I-ADL independence among older people and to a reduction of societal burden.

Suggested Citation

  • Björn Slaug & Carlos Chiatti & Frank Oswald & Roman Kaspar & Steven M. Schmidt, 2017. "Improved Housing Accessibility for Older People in Sweden and Germany: Short Term Costs and Long-Term Gains," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-13, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:9:p:964-:d:109880
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lillie Greiman & Craig Ravesloot, 2016. "Housing characteristics of households with wheeled mobility device users from the American Housing Survey: do people live in homes that facilitate community participation?," Community Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(1), pages 63-74, February.
    2. Roderick Lawrence, 2010. "Housing and health promotion: moving forward," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 55(3), pages 145-146, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Agneta Malmgren Fänge & Carlos Chiatti & Anna Axmon, 2021. "One-Year Changes in Activities of Daily Living, Usability, Falls and Concerns about Falling, and Self-Rated Health for Different Housing Adaptation Client Profiles," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-14, September.

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