Presented by
Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard, RN PhDSchool of Nursing & Centre on Aging
Université de MonctonMoncton, New Brunswick
Canadian Public Health AssociationHalifax, Nova Scotia
June 2008
Seniors fastest growing population group in Canada
30% of adults 65+ will change residence• 7% of all seniors live in institutions (Statistics Canada,
2005)
Relocation• stressful• disrupts existing social networks• challenges seniors to reconstitute these
networks
Develop an understanding of the experience of social engagement for new residents of a seniors-designated apartment building
• Meaning of social engagement• Influential factors (social context and environmental
factors)
• Process
Qualitative focused ethnographic approach• 2 months of participant-observation• 20 interviews with older adults• 8 interviews with staff members• Document consultation• Focus group
Seniors-designated apartment building• Urban setting (outskirts)• 325 units (1 and 2 bedrooms)• 7 floors with 3 elevators• Laundry facility on each floor• Social activities organized by activity
coordinator• Common lounge• Dining room• Public transportation at doorstep• Linked to a semi-independent/dependent
seniors complex• Wait list of approximately 5 years
Environmental influence on social engagement
• Community at Large
• Environmental and social context
Provincial housing program• A number of apartment units designated as
subsidized units and mixed-in with full paying tenants
Community profile• Homogeneous community
Seniors’ housing• No formal system for “checking” on tenants• No coordinated wait list• Few buildings have a paid activity coordinator
The building• Reputation• Conveniences offered• Renovated suites (more expensive for less independent seniors)
Inside the building• Physical features (places to sit, location of lounges,
distances)• Character of the community (realities of aging)• The staff (friendly, paid activity coordinator)• The tenants (female, Anglophone, nicely dressed)• Social context/Culture (happiness, comfort, social
expectations, individuality at risk)• The activities (weekly newsletter, newcomers’ tea, sit same
place)• The physical environment (dining room, size of bldg)
Seniors’ housing “a disorganized system”
Vulnerability
Environment transmits normative symbolic messages to new tenants
Confrontation with aging
Questions / Comments
Dr Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard, RN PhDProfessor – School of Nursing
Director – Research Centre on AgingUniversité de MonctonMoncton, N.B. E1A 3E9Phone: (506) 858-4260
Acknowledgments: - Province of Alberta Graduate Fellowship – University of Alberta - Sigma Theta Tau International, Mu Sigma Chapter- Dr Anne Neufeld, PhD and Dr Vicki Strang, PhD –
University of Alberta- Université de Moncton