Meaning Of Home Research Articles

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PERCEIVED HOUSING, HEALTH, AND QUALITY OF LIFE: DATA FROM AGES 65–70 IN SWEDEN

Abstract Theoretical and empirical advances have supported the notion of the importance of the perceived environment, and in particular the housing environment, as we age. For instance, previous research has found significant associations between aspects of perceived housing, such as control beliefs and meaningful aspects of home, and health and wellbeing. These associations have been found for both younger older, and older older, adults. However, much of previous research has been cross-sectional, in particular for younger older adults, leaving the question whether this association remains over time as we age. By using data from a Swedish longitudinal study (N=371, 57 % women) we analyzed associations between Meaning of Home (MOH) and two external subscales of Housing-Related Control Beliefs (HCQ), to a 6-year change in 31 self-reported health symptoms and health-related quality of life, measured by SF-12, using linear regression and modelling for demographic and housing characteristics. Significant results were found between both housing-related control beliefs and meaning of home, to changes in metabolism symptoms (MOH, R2 = 0.07, F(9, 259) = 3.258, p = .001; HCQ, R2 = 0.072, F(9, 281) = 3.494, p < .000 and R2 = 0.066, F(9, 280) = 3.263, p = .001). However, for all other health symptom groups and for health-related quality of life, no significant associations were found. Our results show that while perceived aspects of housing are associated with health at a given point in time, they may not be predictive of future changes in health status.

‘Mississippi, My Home’

This article focuses on the analysis of 'Mississippi, My Home', a blues composition byAfrican-American singer Lavelle White, which posits key issues about the meaningsof home, identity, and everyday aesthetics. Presented as a true story, the song dealswith the idea of returning home to Mississippi. It represents everyday life in a plantationthrough the bond between the narrator and her mother while picking cotton. Therefore,it introduces the listener to an aesthetic of everyday life that combined blues, work songs, and spirituals. Drawing on a personal interview with the artist, as well as on othersources, we will analyse the song as part of a broader interest in the musical discourseof blues. Exploring the song's text and context, the aim is to reach a complex understandingabout the ways in which biography and fiction intertwine with each other in thecreative act of songwriting and musical performance.

Housing matters in very old age—yet differently due to ADL dependence level differences

In order to support the development of optimal housing options for older people, we need to increase our understanding of relations between aspects of housing and aspects of health in old and very old age. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to explore whether and how aspects of housing are related to life satisfaction and perceived health among very old, single-living Swedish people. Based on survey study data from the ENABLE-AGE Project (n = 397), correlation and regression analyses were performed with sub-groups of participants defined according to different levels of ADL dependence. The results showed that the aspects of housing related to life satisfaction and perceived health were different in the three ADL sub-groups. Among objective aspects of housing, accessibility problems influenced life satisfaction as well as perceived health, yet differently among the sub-groups. As concerns perceived aspects of housing, aspects of meaning of home (MOH) were influential on perceived health in several sub-groups, while only among persons dependent in I-ADL were social aspects of MOH related to life satisfaction. Among persons dependent in I-ADL, external housing-related control beliefs also played a role. In conclusion, the results indicate that housing matters in very old age, yet differently due to ADL dependence-level differences. Most importantly, different aspects of housing seem to play a role in different phases of the trajectory of disability in very old age, while longitudinal studies are needed to verify these indicative results.