Environmental Challenges in the Home for Ageing Societies: a Comparison of Sweden and Japan.

Sweden and Japan are developed welfare countries facing serious societal and public health challenges due to demographic ageing. The objective of the present study was to provide a background to environmental challenges in the home, related to demographic ageing. Specific aims were to compare: 1) demography and household composition 2) physical housing stocks 3) indoor accidents and 4) housing adaptations between the two countries. Descriptive analyses were conducted using secondary data sources. Demographic ageing is projected to accelerate faster in Japan compared to Sweden, with overall lower fertility rates expected in Japan. In 2050, 39% of the Japanese population is projected to be aged 65 years or older, compared to 23% of the Swedish population. The Swedish ordinary housing stock was markedly older than the Japanese housing stock, with almost 80% of the dwellings built before 1980, while in Japan about 65% were built after 1980. High occurrences of fatal indoor accidents were noted in both countries, but for different reasons. In Sweden, falls was the dominant cause of fatal accidents among older people, while in Japan, in addition to falls, drowning and suffocation caused most of the fatal accidents. Housing adaptations were less frequent in Japan compared to Sweden, and the procedure for evaluating, granting and carrying out housing adaptations appeared to be more complicated in Japan. To decrease the occurrence of indoor accidents, identifying and removing "risk barriers" could be instrumental. In both countries, large-scale efforts are imperative to improve the housing situation for the ageing population.

Evaluating Disparities in Elderly Community Care Resources: Using a Geographic Accessibility and Inequality Index.

This study evaluated geographic accessibility and utilized assessment indices to investigate disparities in elderly community care resource distribution. The data were derived from Taiwanese governmental data in 2017, including 3,148,283 elderly individuals (age 65+), 7681 villages, and 1941 community care centers. To identify disparities in geographic accessibility, we compared the efficacy of six measurements and proposed a composite index to identify levels of resource inequality from the Gini coefficient and “median-mean” skewness. Low village-level correlation (0.038) indicated inconsistencies between the demand populations and community care center distribution. Method M6 (calculated accessibility of nearest distance-decay accounting for population of villages, supplier loading, and elderly walkability) was identified as the most comprehensive disparity measurement. Community care policy assessment requires a comprehensive and weighted calculation process, including the elderly walkability distance-decay factor, demand population, and supplier loading. Three steps were suggested for elderly policy planning and improvement in future.

O Garmic e a luta por moradia para idosos na cidade de São Paulo / Garmic and the struggle for housing for elderly people in the city of São Paulo

Relato de experiência sobre o movimento de moradia dos idosos de São Paulo - Garmic, organização de idosos voltada especificamente para a luta por moradia. Desenvolve trabalhos com idosos filiados à entidade, quanto a organização dos mesmos, com o objetivo de buscar - junto ao poder público e instituições da sociedade civil - a criação de políticas públicas de habitação para a população idosa de baixa renda, na cidade de São Paulo

Report of an experience about Garmic, the movement towards housing organized by the elderly people of São Paulo. It develops works with elderly people affliated to the entity regarding their organization, and its objective is that the public power and civil society institutions create public policies of housing for the low-income elderly population in the city of São Paulo

Recomendação de projeto de habitação para proporcionar qualidade de vida no envelhecimento / Recommendation of project of habitation to provide quality of life in the aging

O aumento do contingente de idosos vem sendo observado no Brasil e no mundo. Ao envelhecer, as pessoas ficam mais dentro de suas casas e mais suscetíveis a acidentes domiciliares, por diminuição da mobilidade e habilidade e habilitada nas tarefas da vida diária. O objetivo deste projeto é apresentar uma recomendação de projeto de habitação compatível com o envelhecimento fisiológico, diminuindo o índice de quedas e acidentes domiciliares. Com a observação das barreiras e riscos que o ambiente domiciliar apresenta, obteve-se protótipo de uma casa funcional capaz de proporcionar segurança e melhor qualidade de vida.

[The impact of relocation on well-being of the elderly].

OBJECTIVE: This study examined direct and indirect effects, mediated by social contact, of residential relocation on well-being of the elderly. METHODS: We used longitudinal data of a national representative sample of individual aged 60 years and over (N = 1,474). The initial survey was conducted in 1987, and the follow-up survey was conducted three years later. Well-being was measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) and the Life Satisfaction Index A (LSIA). Social contacts were measured in terms of frequency of contacts with relatives, friends and neighbors, as well as frequency of social participation. RESULTS: Relocation had a positive direct effect on well-being, assessed by both CES-D and LSIA, but a negative indirect effect mediated by decline of social contacts. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that residential relocation indirectly has a detrimental effect on well-being of the elderly through decline in social contacts, though it may directly improve well-being of the elderly.