My home in later life: A phenomenographic study of older adults' experience of home

Abstract

Home environments are especially important for older adults whose lives are more home-based than earlier life stages. Despite a focus on ageing in place, there often remains a mismatch between housing options prioritised by government and industry, and the needs and preferences of older adults. This paper considers the breadth of home environments experienced by diverse older Australians and highlights the varied ways they use and think about their homes. Data from three national online focus groups (n1 = 33, n2 = 37, n3 = 33) with people aged 50–92 were analysed using phenomenographic approaches to explore the different ways older adults perceived their home environments, resulting in four hierarchical conceptions. People displayed vastly different lifetime housing pathways (Clapham, 2005), leading to diverse perceptions about the place and experience of home in their later lives. In assessing the suitability of their housing, older people considered a large number of household members: current, expected or desired co-residents; transitory, short, medium and long-term residents; near and extended family, friends and dependents. This has important implications for policy and design responses on older adult's homes, which are typically focussed on occupancy by one or two individuals. To avoid assumptions about household makeup and usage based solely on the chronological age of residents, the perspective of older adults must be embraced in designing their future housing.