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Linkages among housing assistance, residential (re)location, and use of community health and social care by old-old adults: shelter and non-shelter implications for housing policy development

Summary

Project Number: 40005
Research Theme: Health_Ageing_and_Disability
Project Leader: Faulkner, Debbie
Funding Year: 2000
Research Centre: Southern

Research & Policy Bulletin

Issue 012: Housing, housing assistance and well being for older people

How do housing and housing assistance influence well being for older people? It is an important question, particularly given current policy focus on encouraging older people to remain in the community as long as possible.

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Description

The aged are an important and sometimes vulnerable group within the Australian housing system. As a group they have a number of features that distinguish them from younger housing consumers, but within the aged group there are various needs that arise for those occupying different housing arrangements. The needs of older persons are not easily compartmentalised. A holistic, integrated approach to the issues of ageing is now seen as the essential basis for developing policy and program directions in aged care. Housing policy may be an important lynchpin in ensuring a range of higher order or non-shelter outcomes, including strengthening families and other aspects of economic and social well-being.

The aims of this research were to:

• define among a population of older persons, the key non-shelter impacts of different forms of housing and to analyse how these may contribute to improved social well being for individuals, families and communities;
• identify the critical housing related factors that interact with these non-shelter impacts and their flow on effect on specific shelter and non-shelter outcomes including quality of life;
• derive key outcome measures that may be used to assess the impact of housing on non-shelter outcomes in the older population and review methodologies that may be used for these purposes;
• define key outcome measures, including housing related indicators, for social sustainability/vulnerability among older persons;
• articulate implications of relationships identified between the provision of types of housing assistance for older persons and a range of non-shelter outcomes for the provision of housing assistance across departments, portfolios and levels of government;
• clarify from data obtained the relationships between the housing system and health, social well being and economic outcomes for older persons;

This research identifed key underlying factors in the dynamics of housing, well-being, physical and social function and health in an older population. The research aimed to, in the context of an ageing population, provide information on: methodological issues associated with monitoring relevant specific and global outcomes of more integrated housing and other community programs; implications and possible directions for achieving more fully integrated inter-sectoral policies, including those on housing, addressing complex needs in a holistic way; program planning activities aimed at ensuring greater integration and coordination of interrelated aged care services including housing assistance to individuals, families and communities; and economic analysis of the impact of existing and alternative policies and programs providing various degrees of integration of housing assistance and other aged care services.

More Information

Final Report: No. 013: Appendices - Linkages between housing assistance, residential (re)location, and use of community health and social care by old-old adults: shelter and non-shelter implications for housing policy development
7924 KB PDF Document

Positioning Paper: No. 015: Linkages between housing assistance, residential (re)location, and use of community health and social care by old-old adults: shelter and non-shelter implications for housing policy development
467 KB PDF Document

Final Report: No. 013: Linkages between housing assistance, residential (re)location, and use of community health and social care by old-old adults: shelter and non-shelter implications for housing policy development
795 KB PDF Document

Research and Policy Bulletin: Issue 012: Housing, housing assistance and well being for older people
57 KB PDF Document