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Availability of activity-related resources in senior apartments: does it differ by neighbourhood socio-economic status?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2009

VERENA H. MENEC ,
DAWN M. VESELYUK ,
AUDREY A. BLANDFORD  and
SCOTT NOWICKI
VERENA H. MENEC*
Affiliation:
Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. Centre on Aging, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
DAWN M. VESELYUK
Affiliation:
Centre on Aging, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
AUDREY A. BLANDFORD
Affiliation:
Centre on Aging, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
SCOTT NOWICKI
Affiliation:
Centre on Aging, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
*
Address for correspondence: Verena Menec, Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, S112 Medical Services Building, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 0W3, Canada. E-mail: menec@cc.umanitoba.ca
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Abstract

Research has shown that the level of activity of the residents of a city's neighbourhood is related to the availability of activity-related resources. This study aimed to characterise the housing environment in which many older adults live by exploring what activity-related resources were available in senior apartment buildings in one Canadian city, Winnipeg. Of 195 senior apartment buildings in the city, 190 were surveyed to examine whether variation in the buildings' activity resources was related to neighbourhood characteristics, particularly socio-economic status. Resources were classified as those for physical activities (e.g. exercise classes), social activities (e.g. card games), and services (e.g. a grocery-store shuttle). The neighbourhood characteristics were taken from census data and included socio-economic and socio-demographic measures. The apartment buildings varied considerably in the resources available, and a positive relationship was found between neighbourhood income and physical and social activity programmes and services. Lower residential stability and a higher percentage of residents living alone were also related to the buildings' resource-richness, and senior apartment buildings with limited activity-related resources clustered in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. How senior apartments are resourced should be examined in relation to the neighbourhood in which they are located.

Keywords

environmenthousingactivity participationsocio-economic status
Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , April 2009 , pp. 397 - 411
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 Cambridge University Press

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