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31 - Linking the Socio-Physical Environment to Successful Aging

From Basic Research to Intervention to Implementation Science Considerations

from Part III - Socio-Demographic Issues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2019

By
Hans-Werner Wahl  and
Laura N. Gitlin
Edited by
Rocío Fernández-Ballesteros ,
Athanase Benetos  and
Jean-Marie Robine
Rocío Fernández-Ballesteros
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Athanase Benetos
Affiliation:
Université de Lorraine and Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM) Nancy
Jean-Marie Robine
Affiliation:
INSERM
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Summary

We argue in this chapter that environmental perspectives have the potential to enrich models of successful aging. Importantly, theories of successful aging have so far largely ignored the role of contextual influences; this is where this chapter steps in. Our reasoning is grounded in the field of environmental gerontology which strives to understand the relationship of aging individuals to their environments as well as its utilization and optimization to effectively support individuals/families with varying conditions, capabilities, and needs. First, we provide an overview of established models able to contribute to the understanding of how older adults have interchange with their environments. Doing so, we address traditional theories such as the competence-press model as well as more recent approaches such as Golant’s model of residential normalcy and the motivational theory of life-span development. Second, we elaborate on the connection between environmental gerontology reasoning and successful aging, for example by highlighting the critical role of environments for aging with disabilities. Third, we consider issues of interventions located at the environmental level and also address the challenges of implementation, hence to make sustainable changes in home and clinical environments in order to support successful aging.
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The Cambridge Handbook of Successful Aging , pp. 570 - 593
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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