IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i1p517-d716992.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Defining Your “Life Territory”: The Meaning of Place and Home for Community Dwellers and Nursing Home Residents—A Qualitative Study in Four European Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Fiona Ecarnot

    (Department of Cardiology, University Hospital Besançon, 25000 Besançon, France
    EA3920, University of Burgundy Franche-Comté, 25000 Besançon, France)

  • Stéphane Sanchez

    (Hôpitaux Champagne Sud—Centre Hospitalier de Troyes, 10000 Troyes, France
    Fondation Korian Pour le Bien Vieillir, 75008 Paris, France)

  • Gilles Berrut

    (CHU Nantes, Pôle Hospitalo-Universitaire de Gérontologie Clinique, and Gérontopôle Autonomie Longévité Pays de la Loire, 44200 Nantes, France)

  • Véronique Suissa

    (Laboratoire de Psychopathologie et Neuropsychologie, Université Paris VIII, 93526 Saint-Denis, France)

  • Serge Guérin

    (Fondation Korian Pour le Bien Vieillir, 75008 Paris, France)

  • Aude Letty

    (Fondation Korian Pour le Bien Vieillir, 75008 Paris, France)

Abstract

The meaning of place and home for community dwellers and nursing home residents remains unclear. We explored the relationship between older people and their “life territory”, to propose a working definition of this concept, which could be used to orient policy decisions. Individual, semi-structured interviews were performed with older people, nursing home staff, and representatives of local institutions/elected officials in four European countries (France, Belgium, Germany, Italy). Interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. In total, 54 interviews were performed. Five main themes emerged: (i) working definition of “your life territory” (a multidimensional concept covering individual and collective aspects); (ii) importance of the built environment (e.g., public transport, sidewalks, benches, access ramps); (iii) interactions between nursing homes and the outside community (specifically the need to maintain interactions with the local community); (iv) a sense of integration (dependent on social contacts, seniority in the area, perceived self-utility); and (v) the use of new technologies (to promote integration, social contacts and access to culture). This study found that the “life territory” of older people is a multidimensional concept, centred around five main domains, which together contribute to integrating older people into the fibre of their community.

Suggested Citation

  • Fiona Ecarnot & Stéphane Sanchez & Gilles Berrut & Véronique Suissa & Serge Guérin & Aude Letty, 2022. "Defining Your “Life Territory”: The Meaning of Place and Home for Community Dwellers and Nursing Home Residents—A Qualitative Study in Four European Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-10, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:1:p:517-:d:716992
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/1/517/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/1/517/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Reed, Jan & Roskell Payton, Valerie & Bond, Senga, 1998. "The importance of place for older people moving into care homes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 46(7), pages 859-867, April.
    2. Kathy Black & Dylan J. Jester, 2020. "Examining Older Adults’ Perspectives on the Built Environment and Correlates of Healthy Aging in an American Age-Friendly Community," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-11, September.
    3. Estela González & Carmen Requena & Paula Álvarez-Merino, 2020. "Single Time-Point Study of the Home Environment and Functionality of Older Adults in Spain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-12, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Atiya Mahmood & Rachelle Patille & Emily Lam & Diana Juanita Mora & Shreemouna Gurung & Gracen Bookmyer & Rachel Weldrick & Habib Chaudhury & Sarah L. Canham, 2022. "Aging in the Right Place for Older Adults Experiencing Housing Insecurity: An Environmental Assessment of Temporary Housing Program," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-12, November.
    2. van Hoof, J. & Wetzels, M.H. & Dooremalen, A.M.C. & Wouters, E.J.M. & Nieboer, M.E. & Sponselee, A.A.M. & Eyck, A.M.E. & van Gorkom, P.J.L.M. & Zwerts-Verhelst, E.L.M. & Peek, S.T.M. & Vissers-Luijcks, 2014. "Technological and architectural solutions for Dutch nursing homes: Results of a multidisciplinary mind mapping session with professional stakeholders," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 1-12.
    3. Fangfang Hou & Xiao Han & Qiong Wang & Shuai Zhou & Jingya Zhang & Guodong Shen & Yan Zhang, 2022. "Cross-Sectional Associations between Living and Built Environments and Depression Symptoms among Chinese Older Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-12, May.
    4. Cheng, Yang & Rosenberg, Mark W. & Wang, Wuyi & Yang, Linsheng & Li, Hairong, 2011. "Aging, health and place in residential care facilities in Beijing, China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(3), pages 365-372, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:1:p:517-:d:716992. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.