The Experience of Deciding to Move to a Retirement Community: A UK Study

Twenty-five older adults living in three retirement communities that catered to people from different sociodemographic backgrounds completed a semi-structured interview to share their experiences of making the decision to move to a retirement community in the UK. Data were analyzed with framework analysis, and three themes were generated. The overarching theme of maintaining independence and autonomy captured the importance that independence had in decision making. Theme 1 described the contextual factors that influenced older people when making their decision to move to a retirement community. Theme 2 encapsulated the importance of first impressions with a subtheme of existential and identity challenges capturing the tension that some people felt between wanting to move to a retirement community with the reality that this was a space for older people. The findings from this study are useful in highlighting the challenging circumstances that can influence the decision to move to a retirement community.