Developing housing prototypes for the elderly in an ageing society

The aim of this research is to envision housing prototypes for the elderly through a holistic approach considering the needs of an ageing society. As the demographic profile of the population changes, strategies that encourage people to stay independent, active, safe and well as possible to participate and contribute to society are becoming important. To realize such an end, all local services such as housing, health, social care, leisure, transport and education etc need to be integrated to work as a whole system to facilitate independent living but also balancing interdependence with family, community and neighbourhood, brought about by age. Central to the understanding of housing in this way is how several systems work together, such as changing care models and ways of delivery, demands by changing demographics, emphasis on preventive medicine and delay of morbidity and life expectancy, and wellbeing variables of the elderly related to activities, functional ability, personal beliefs and attitudes, home and personal finances (Gallaway 2005), and social networks that build social capital (Lawton 1996). We need a holistic approach to understand how homes and neighbourhoods can sustain the changes of a life time (ENABLE AGE 2002). Such an approach attempts to bring together all the variables to explore the representation of interacting variables to envision housing prototypes for the elderly.