Environment and Aging Theory: A Focus on Housing / Edition 1

by Rick J. Scheidt

Overview

Noted scholars of environment-aging relations and environmental psychology examine the value of selected classic, contemporary, and in one instance, completely new theories for enhancing both research and service provision on housing for elderly populations. The contributors examine the housing needs of older populations and provide theory-driven innovative solutions for improving the fit between older persons and their residential environments. Some issues covered are the need for greater understanding of the psychological needs of older individuals seeking environmental support; for a holistic understanding of elder-environment relations in physical, social, and phenomenological contexts; for inclusion of ignored perspectives; and for recognition of the continuing value of major founding theories. This book will be of interest to students, scholars, and professionals in psychology, gerontology, environmental policy, housing, and social services.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313283895
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/16/1998
Series:	Contributions to the Study of Aging , #26
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

RICK J. SCHEIDT is Professor in the School of Family Studies and Human Services at Kansas State University. He is a social psychologist trained in aging.

PAUL G. WINDLEY is Dean of Art and Architecture at the University of Idaho. He is trained as an environmental-aging specialist.

Table of Contents

Preface
Environment and Aging: Theory Revisited by M. Powell Lawton
Changing an Older Person's Shelter and Care Setting: A Model to Explain Personal and Environmental Outcomes by Stephen M. Golant
Gender and Housing for the Elderly: Sorting Through the Accumulations of a Lifetime by Susan Saegert and Dolores E. McCarthy
The Phenomenology of Housing for Older People by Robert L. Rubinstein
The Social Ecological Approach of Rudolph Moos by Rick J. Scheidt
The Evolving Concept of Behavior Settings: Implications for Housing Older Adults by Carolyn Norris-Baker
Theory and Research on Housing for the Elderly: The Legacy of Kurt Lewin by Patricia A. Parmelee
Index

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: John F. Heumann(Lawson House YMCA)
Description: The book serves to educate practitioners about the relationships between elderly and psychological constructs as manifest within housing environments. The book seems to reach out to practitioners working in the field of geriatrics.
Purpose: The book's purpose is to revisit theoretical advances of the past 15 years to bring them under the scrutiny of current gerontological study and practice. The book is an accessible tool for geriatric practitioners working in the supportive housing field.
Audience: The authors seem to have succeeded at reaching a hands-on practitioner working with active older adults within disparate housing environments, or the gerontologist who may assist the practitioner with housing policy.
Features: The book focuses on the psychosocial nature of older adults in distinct housing settings, and looks at the impact of class, poverty, gender, life experience, and the phenomenology of experience. The authors often use personal narrative to attach theoretical constructs to reality and this makes the book readable and accessible to the practitioner.
Assessment: As a social work administrator working in the housing field for at-risk, exploited, older adults, the book has been very useful in that it has stimulated thought and challenged practice standards for the supportive services being offered to this population. It has reinforced self-determination as a value when supporting older adults, and given new meaning to the concept of "active listening." It is readable and inviting and thus begs to be passed on to other practitioners in the field.

Doody's Review Service

3 Stars from Doody

The book serves to educate practitioners about the relationships between elderly and psychological constructs as manifest within housing environments. The book seems to reach out to practitioners working in the field of geriatrics. The book's purpose is to revisit theoretical advances of the past 15 years to bring them under the scrutiny of current gerontological study and practice. The book is an accessible tool for geriatric practitioners working in the supportive housing field. The authors seem to have succeeded at reaching a hands-on practitioner working with active older adults within disparate housing environments, or the gerontologist who may assist the practitioner with housing policy. The book focuses on the psychosocial nature of older adults in distinct housing settings, and looks at the impact of class, poverty, gender, life experience, and the phenomenology of experience. The authors often use personal narrative to attach theoretical constructs to reality and this makes the book readable and accessible to the practitioner. As a social work administrator working in the housing field for at-risk, exploited, older adults, the book has been very useful in that it has stimulated thought and challenged practice standards for the supportive services being offered to this population. It has reinforced self-determination as a value when supporting older adults, and given new meaning to the concept of "active listening." It is readable and inviting and thus begs to be passed on to other practitioners in the field.

John F. Heumann

Contributors examine seven new, existing, or classic environment-aging perspectives that promise to stimulate innovative thinking and research. Topics include the person attributes missing from models; differences in the ways that older persons adjust to residential changes; gender, housing, and the elderly from a feminist perspective; a phenomenology of housing for older people; the social ecological approach of Rudolf Moos; the behavior setting theory of Roger Barker and colleagues; and the field theory of Kurt Lewin. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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