Learning from the experience and effectiveness of retirement village and extra care housing responses to the COVID-19 pandemic
Quality in Ageing and Older Adults
ISSN: 1471-7794
Article publication date: 4 November 2021
Issue publication date: 10 December 2021
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe the RE-COV study and to summarise its findings. It focuses particularly on the implications of lessons learned for national, operational and building design policy and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
Invitations to take part in a RE-COV study survey were emailed to the operators of 270 retirement villages and older people’s extra care housing schemes in England which were known to the Elderly Accommodation Counsel. Completed questionnaires were returned from 38 operators, online or electronically, between December 2020 and February 2021.
Findings
Survey findings evidenced the breadth and depth of the operators’ responses, the effects these had on residents’ lives and worthwhile changes which could be made. Outcomes demonstrated included higher levels of protection for residents from the COVID-19 virus compared to older people living in the general community, and high levels of residents feeling safe, supported and reassured.
Practical implications
The findings are used to offer evidence-based recommendations for housing operators, building designers and policymakers which could enhance resident, staff and operators’ health and well-being, both going forward and during possible future pandemics.
Social implications
There is evidence that retirement villages and extra care housing provided safe, resilient and supportive environments during the first year of the pandemic which were highly valued by residents.
Originality/value
This study addressed a knowledge gap regarding how the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted housing-with-care stakeholders, evidencing specifically how operators had responded, and what their response achieved.
Keywords
Citation
Dutton, R. (2021), "Learning from the experience and effectiveness of retirement village and extra care housing responses to the COVID-19 pandemic", Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, Vol. 22 No. 3/4, pp. 159-171. https://doi.org/10.1108/QAOA-09-2021-0071
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited