Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T16:19:43.019Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Housing tenure and older people

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 September 2012

Sheelah Connolly
Sheelah Connolly*
Affiliation:
Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
*
Address for correspondence: Sheelah Connolly, Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, Cairnes Building, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland. Email: sheelah.connolly@nuigalway.ie
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Housing tenure takes a variety of forms, the most common of which are rental and owner-occupation. Currently, in the United Kingdom (UK), approximately 70% of older people live in owner-occupier properties, with the majority of the remainder renting from a public or private landlord. Research has consistently shown higher levels of morbidity and mortality among renters compared with owner-occupiers. However, it is unclear whether this is due to tenure acting as a proxy for other indicators of socio-economic status, such as income, which directly influences health, or whether other characteristics associated with tenure, including housing quality and location, explain the association. Untangling these competing influences of tenure on health is important, as it may provide clues on tackling health inequalities at older ages. Tenure too, appears to be related to the risk of long-stay care admission, with owner-occupiers significantly less likely to leave their home than renters; more work is required to identify why this is the case, as it may provide some insights on facilitating ageing in place.

Keywords

housing tenureolder peoplemorbidity
Type
Psychological and social gerontology
Information
Reviews in Clinical Gerontology , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , November 2012 , pp. 286 - 292
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1United Nations. The right to adequate housing. Geneva: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 1991.Google Scholar
2Howden-Chapman, P.Housing standards: a glossary of housing and health. J Epidemiol Community Health 2004; 58: 162–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3Howden-Chapman, P, Chandola, T, Stafford, M, Marmot, M. The effect of housing on the mental health of older people: the impact of lifetime housing history in Whitehall II. BMC Public Health 2011; 11: 682.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4Tinker, A.Housing for elderly people. Rev Clin Gerontol 1997; 7: 171–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5Connolly, S, Rosato, M, O'Reilly, D. House value as an indicator of cumulative wealth is strongly related to morbidity and mortality risk in older people: a census-based cross-sectional and longitudinal study. Int J Epidemiol 2010; 39: 383–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6Grundy, E, Holt, G. (2001). The socioeconomic status of older adults: how should we measure it in studies of health inequalities? J Epidemiol Community Health 2001; 55: 895–904.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Dalstra, J, Kunst, A, Mackenbach, J. A comparative appraisal of the relationship of education, income and housing tenure with less than good health among the eldely in Europe. Soc Sci Med 2006; 62: 2046–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8Huisman, M, Kunst, AE, Andersen, O, Bopp, M, Borgan, JK, Borrell, C, Costa, G, Deboosere, P, Desplanques, G, Donkin, A, Gadeyne, S, Minder, C, Regidor, E, Spadea, T, Valkonen, T, Mackenbach, JP. (2004). Socioeconomic inequalities in mortality among elderly people in 11 European populations. J Epidemiol Community Health 2004; 58: 468–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9Costa-Font, J.Housing assets and the socio-economic determinants of health and disability in old age. Health Place 2008; 14: 478–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10Arber, S, Ginn, J. Gender and inequalities in health in later life. Soc Sci Med 1993; 36: 33–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11Macintyre, S, Ellaway, A, Der, G, Ford, G, Hunt, K. Do housing tenure and access predict health because they are simply markers of income or self esteem? A Scottish study. J Epidemiol Community Health 1998; 52: 657–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12Evans, G, Wells, N, Moch, A. Housing and mental health: a review of the evidence and a methodological and conceptual critique. J Soc Issues 2003; 59: 475–500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13Shaw, M.Housing and public health. Ann Rev Public Health 2004; 25: 397–418.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14Mackenbach, H, Howden-Chapman, P. Houses, neighbourhoods and health. Eur J Public Health 2002; 12: 161–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15Aylin, P, Morris, S, Wakefield, J, Grossinho, A, Jarrup, L, Elliott, P. Temperature, housing, deprivation and their relationship to excess winter mortality in Great Britain. Int J Epidemiol 2001; 30: 1100–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16Howden-Chapman, P, Singal, L, Cranes, J. Housing and health in older people: Ageing in place. Soc Pol J NZ 1999; 13: 14–30.Google Scholar
17Windle, G, Burholt, V, Edwards, R. Housing related difficulties, housing tenure and variations in health status: evidence from older people in Wales. Health Place 2006; 12: 267–78.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18Department for Communities and Local Government. English House Condition Survey 2007. London: HMSO, 2009.Google Scholar
19Macintyre, S, Ellaway, A, Hiscock, R, Kearns, A, Der, G, Mckay, L. What features of the area might help to explain observed relationships between housing tenure and health? Evidence from the west of Scotland. Health Place 2003; 9: 207–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20Pickett, K, Pearl, M. Multilevel analysis of neighbourhood socio-economic context and health outcomes: a critical review. J Epidemiol Commun Health 2001; 55: 111–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21Ellaway, A, Macintyre, S. Does housing tenure predict health in the UK because it exposes people to different levels of housing related hazards in the home or its surroundings? Health Place 1998; 4: 141–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22Kearns, A. Response: from residential disadvantage to opportunity? Reflections on British and European policy and research. Housing Stud 2002; 17: 145–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23Bull, J, Poole, L. Not Rich: Not Poor. A Study of Housing Options for Elderly People on Middle Incomes. Oxford, SHAC/Anchor Housing Trust, 1989.Google Scholar
24Gitlin, L.Conducting research on home environments: lessons learned and new directions. Gerontologist 2003: 43: 628–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25Sixsmith, A, Sixsmith, J. Ageing in place in the United Kingdom. Ageing Int 2008; 32: 219–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26Grundy, E, Jitlal, M. Socio-demographic variations in moves to institutional care 1991–2001: a record linkage study from England and Wales. Age Ageing 2007; 36: 424–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27Wang, JJ, Mitchell, P, Smith, W, Cumming, RG, Leeder, SR. Incidence of nursing home placement in a defined community. Med J Aust 2001; 174: 271–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28Hancock, R, Arthur, A, Jagger, C, Matthews, R. The effect of older people's economic resources on care home entry under the United Kingdom's long-term care financing system. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2002; 57: S285–93.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
29McCann, M, Grundy, E, O'Reilly, D. Why is housing tenure associated with a lower risk of admission to a nursing or residential home? Wealth, health and the incentive to keep my home. J Epidemiol Comm Health 2012; 66: 166–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
30Mittleman, M, Haley, W, Clay, O, Roth, D. Improving caregiver well-being delays nursing home placement of patients with Alzheimer disease. Neurology 2006; 67: 1592–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31Mittleman, M, Ferris, S, Shulman, E, Steinberg, G, Levin, B. A family intervention to delay nursing home placement of patients with Alzheimer disease: A randomized controlled trial. J Amer Med Assoc 1996; 276: 1725–31.Google Scholar
32Broadaty, H, Green, A, Koscher, A. Meta-analysis of psychosocial interventions for caregivers of people with dementia. J Am Geriatr Soc 2003; 51: 657–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
33Ryan, A, McCann, S, McKenna, H. Impact of community care in enabling older people with complex needs to remain at home. Int J Older People Nurs 2009; 4: 23–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
34Tinker, A, Lansley, P (2005). Introducing assistive technology into the existing homes of older people: feasibility, acceptability, costs and outcomes. J Telemed Telecare 2005; 11 (suppl 1): 1–3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed