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Conducting research on home environments: lessons learned and new directions
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Conducting research on home environments: lessons learned and new directions

Laura N Gitlin
The Gerontologist, v 43(5), pp 628-637
Oct 2003
PMID: 14570959
url
https://academic.oup.com/gerontologist/article-pdf/43/5/628/1770827/628.pdfView
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Activities of Daily Living Aged Environment Environmental Health - trends Geriatrics - methods Geriatrics - trends Home Nursing - statistics & numerical data Home Nursing - trends Humans Quality of Life Research - trends Research Design
The study of home environments is a research domain within the field of environmental gerontology that addresses issues related to aging in place. Despite the importance of aging at home, there are few recent studies in this area and most are descriptive and lack theoretical direction. This article examines the current state of research on home environments from which methodological challenges and new directions for future research are identified. Three broad research queries are posed: What should we measure and why in home environments? How do older people and their family members use the home environment in health, illness, and caregiving? What are the interrelationships between the home environment, psychological well-being, and daily functioning throughout the aging process? Suggestions for future research on home environments are discussed and the implications for advancing environmental gerontology highlighted. Specifically, the home environment offers a testing ground for generic environmental constructs and their measurement as well as a unique setting from which new understandings and constructs of person-environment fit can emerge.

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Web of Science research areas
Gerontology
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