Shelter and Service Issues for Aging Populations

International Perspectives

Shelter and Service Issues for Aging Populations takes you for an inside look at what policies in Western Europe, Canada, and the United States have done to meet the housing and service needs of the elderly and the disabled and what policies have yet to accomplish. As you learn about a wide range of cost-effective and successful housing options, such as congregate housing, home equity conversions, and homesharing, you will learn about the challenges of providing responsive, high-quality housing and living arrangements to meet the needs of different populations. As this insightful book reveals, the psychosocial needs of elderly and disabled persons have often been neglected in efforts to provide appropriate physical accommodation, and services and shelter are seldom coordinated to respond to the changes individuals experience.

Shelter and Service Issues for Aging Populations shows you how federal and state/provincial governments, nonprofit organizations, and private groups have all implemented policies to create barrier-free housing. Yet, at the same time, most Western countries have not developed comprehensive grant and loan programs to allow the elderly and disabled to modify their homes. As this book walks you through the problems that exist, it shows you how policymakers, architects, social work practitioners and academics, housing developers, and community leaders can work together to improve housing conditions and services. Along the way, you will learn about:

• the failure of health care systems to cover home modifications

• the Fair Housing Act Amendment

• stigmatizing effects of the “elderly” label in obtaining community accommodation

• differences between environmental needs of rural and urban seniors

• current patterns of housing and living arrangements of older Canadians

• the effects of demographic aging on the urban ecology

• the Abbeyfield model of congregate housing

• continuing care retirement communities

• aging in place

  Shelter and Service Issues for Aging Populations looks at the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to housing and service provision to help housing policy specialists, gerontologists, social workers, community leaders, architects, and housing developers find stronger, more effective solutions for giving people the home environments they need. Don't continue to supply inadequate housing to people with special needs. Let this book inform you, guide you, and contribute to the shaping of important, new housing and service policies.