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

suzanne.dupuis-blanchard@umoncton.ca

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