Doctoral Dissertation Research: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Individual, Household, and Neighborhood-Level Factors Affecting the Health and Well-Being of Older Adults

博士论文研究：影响老年人健康和福祉的个人、家庭和社区层面因素的混合方法分析

• 批准号: 1558577
• 负责人: Susan Craddock
• 金额: $ 1.6万
• 依托单位: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-03-15 至 2017-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1558577&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Mixed; Methods

This doctoral dissertation research project will investigate how housing and neighborhood designs affect the health and well-being of elder residents in U.S. metropolitan areas. The project will focus on aging and the built environment at the individual, household, and neighborhood level to address unique issues occurring in different types of urban communities. The project will provide new insights regarding how the built environment can be developed in specific ways that are more consistent with the needs of elders. Project findings will contribute to the spatial social sciences by expanding basic knowledge about the health and well-being of elder residents in relation to their home and neighborhood environments. The project will have practical implications by promoting more inclusive and sustainable urban planning and design that better meet the unique needs of diverse aging populations, with special emphasis on the experiences and needs of low-income, minority, and disabled older adults. The project will provide basic research exposure and experience to a diverse range of individuals, with special efforts made to provide research opportunities for students from underrepresented groups to participate in fieldwork and data analysis. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.The project will aim to understand urban landscape challenges to "aging in place," an increasingly common phenomenon where elder residents stay in their longtime homes and communities instead of moving to institutional settings, such as assisted living facilities. The doctoral student will identify personal, household, and neighborhood level factors that affect elder residents' well-being and ability to "age in place" in a safe and supportive environment. The student will bridges theories and methods from geography and public health through a mixed-methods study in three distinct regions of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The first phase of research will involve sit-down and mobile interviews with 125 community-dwelling elder residents as well as environmental audits and spatial analyses of participants' homes and neighborhoods. The second phase will involve semi-longitudinal ethnographic sessions with a subset of participants. Interviews with civic staff and policy analysis in the third phase will focus on local planning and policy efforts. This multi-level investigation will produce new insights into the complex connections between elders and urban environments, and project results will inform urban planning and community design that tries to accommodate the distinctive needs of elder citizens in American society.

这个博士论文研究项目将调查住房和社区设计如何影响美国大都市地区老年居民的健康和福祉。 该项目将重点关注个人、家庭和社区层面的老龄化和建筑环境，以解决不同类型城市社区中出现的独特问题。 该项目将提供关于如何以更符合老年人需求的具体方式开发建筑环境的新见解。 项目研究结果将有助于空间社会科学，扩大有关老年居民的健康和福祉的基本知识，与他们的家庭和邻里环境。 该项目将通过促进更具包容性和可持续性的城市规划和设计，更好地满足不同老龄人口的独特需求，特别强调低收入，少数民族和残疾老年人的经验和需求，产生实际影响。 该项目将向各种各样的个人提供基本研究接触和经验，并特别努力为代表性不足的群体的学生提供参与实地工作和数据分析的研究机会。 作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将为有前途的学生提供支持，使其能够建立强大的独立研究事业。该项目旨在了解城市景观对“原地老龄化”的挑战，这是一种越来越普遍的现象，老年居民留在他们的长期家园和社区，而不是搬到机构设置，如辅助生活设施。 博士生将确定个人，家庭和邻里水平的因素，影响老年居民的福祉和能力，“年龄在地方”在一个安全和支持的环境。 学生将通过在明尼阿波利斯-圣保罗大都市区的三个不同地区进行混合方法研究，将地理和公共卫生的理论和方法联系起来。 第一阶段的研究将包括对125名社区居住的老年居民进行静坐和移动的访谈，以及对参与者的家庭和社区进行环境审计和空间分析。 第二阶段将涉及半纵向人种学会议与一个子集的参与者。 在第三阶段，与民政工作人员的访谈和政策分析将侧重于地方规划和政策努力。 这种多层次的调查将产生新的见解老年人和城市环境之间的复杂联系，项目结果将告知城市规划和社区设计，试图适应老年公民在美国社会的独特需求。