‘The village as a coat’; changes in the person-environment fit for older people in a rural area in The Netherlands

Abstract

The village is important as a residential environment for rural older people. Village populations in The Netherlands have a higher proportion of older people than cities and are facing higher rates of greying. The aim to create ‘age-friendly communities’ which enable people to ‘age in place’ is therefore even more relevant for villages than for urban places. However, the age-friendly community concept does not take into account the diversity of both older people and rural places. Rural places which are a ‘paradise’ for certain groups of older adults might feel like a ‘prison’ to others. Moreover, rural older people are changing, just as villages are changing. A situation characterised as a good ‘person-environment fit’ may transform into a poor fit through changes in both the characteristics of the older people and the local environment.This paper aims to investigate changes in person-environment fit for older people in East Gelderland, a peripheral rural area in the east of The Netherlands. By distinguishing between different types of villages in one rural area, we are able to explore which types of villages demonstrate the best person-environment fit, and for which categories of older adults. The multivariate analysis (UNIANOVA) is based on a secondary analysis of two datasets derived from two surveys conducted in 17 villages in East Gelderland in two different years, 1995 and 2009. The analysis includes data on 515 persons aged 55 years and older from the 1995 survey, and 463 persons in the same age group from the 2009 survey. Person-environment fit is measured in terms of satisfaction, feeling unsafe, feeling at home, village attachment and participation.The analysis demonstrates the growing importance of certain differentiations, whereby specific village types match the needs and preferences of specific groups of older adults. Income, migration history and age appear to be the core characteristics. The paper concludes that the villages in East Gelderland form a fitting ‘coat’ for most older people, but certain categories of older people face a lower person-environment fit and fewer possibilities to 'age in place' in specific types of villages. Relatively poor villages seem to be more at risk with respect to person-environment fit for the older population in the transition from the ‘third age’ to the ‘fourth age’. But even for specific subgroups of older people in rich villages, such as older people with a low income and retired migrants, ageing-in-place is not self-evident.