The architecture of assisted living for the elderly: Achieving the meanings of home

Abstract

This thesis explores the sociocultural meanings of home in congregate housing facilities offering assisted living services for the elderly in the United States. A review of the meanings of home in the single-family house is initially conducted to define categories of meaning with respect to the socio-historical and cultural forces which have shaped them. Previous studies are also analyzed concerning the meaning of home in elderly housing. Twenty structured interviews are then conducted with the elderly occupying apartments in three different housing facilities with varying socioeconomic composition. The purpose is to explore whether or not the same categories of meaning defined with respect to the single-family house one generally identifies with are replicated in the congregate housing facilities. Although the study is exploratory in nature without specific intentions of drawing definitive conclusions, emergent themes suggest that in congregate housing for the aged: security becomes less of an issue; function dominates social, expressive aspects; and self-preservation through objects tends to be more important than self-expression.