THE NEW ERA OF HOUSING FOR THE ELDERLY? LIFESTYLE, FREEDOM AND COMMUNITY; A social anthropological study about how living in a co-housing building can affect the elderly’s quality of life and freedom.
Abstract
This thesis explores the elderly’s choice to change their housing situation and their option to
move to a co-housing building. Cohousing is a type of housing arrangement that promotes
social contact and community between the neighbors. This is done through mutual common
areas in the building and planned activities that bring the residents together. The thesis
addresses how the existence of these spaces and group activities affect the elderly sense of
community and quality of life. Beside the term quality of life, the thesis also uses David
Claphams concept housing pathway to explain why the elderly choose to move in the first
place as well as Lowell Don Holm and Donald O Cowgill's theory on loneliness and aging.
This study takes place in the south of Sweden and the informants are in the age group 55+. I
uses qualitative methods - participant observation and semi structured in-depth interviews - to
gather both the experiences as they ares described by the elderly and also the observations of
the everyday life which strengthen and complement what the subjects already describe in
words. In the study one can see that the elderly’s choices to move to a co-housing space give
them more freedom and socialization, and with that a better quality of life.
Degree
Student essay
Collections
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Date
2023-09-27Author
Stamm Alfredsson, Teresita
Keywords
Co-housing
Elderly
Quality of life
Language
eng