Assessing the health impact of age-specific housing

It has been claimed that 'retirement communities', defined in this instance as voluntary communities of older people living in shared, purpose-built housing, combine the best attributes of residential and community living. Subjective health status may thereby be improved through a culture in which independence and autonomy are actively promoted. Concern has also been raised that age-segregated communities of this sort might produce 'ghettos' of increasing dependency and service demand. This study, conducted over a 12-month time period, found that when compared to older people living in the local neighbourhood, the retirement community population maintained their physical and mental health (utilising measures including the SF36, Life Satisfaction Index, and 18 semantic differentials). Investigation of these findings indicated that peer support and safety/security, and 'autonomy with inclusion' were key factors in maintaining health status.