Preventing isolation in sheltered housing: challenges in an era of reduced support funding
ISSN: 1366-3666
Article publication date: 27 July 2017
Issue publication date: 17 August 2017
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to inform the policies of sheltered housing providers with regard to preventing isolation amongst residents and generating practical support between them, particularly in the current period of reduced funding for housing support.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reports a postal survey of 120 residents across eight estates, focus groups on these and eight other estates and survey responses from 326 estate managers.
Findings
Childless residents are especially vulnerable to lack of support, depending on friends or on paid care. Those estates with a rich array of organised social activities generated more support and friendships amongst neighbours than those with few activities. Managers perform an important service in generating and supporting social activities, but their role is diminishing and restricted by short hours on site. Residents’ groups need capacity-building support to organise more by themselves. Cross-generational contacts are particularly valuable but residents need help to access them outside of their own families.
Research limitations/implications
Certain forms of group activity which are the most valuable in terms of promoting mental stimulation and exercise are rarely organised by residents’ groups without staff support.
Originality/value
How to generate mutual aid between residents is an important objective for housing providers in a period of reduced funding for staff time and of severe constraints on social care budgets.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to the Weeks Centre for hosting this research, and to staff of Hanover Housing for helping to organise and data process the surveys of tenants and managers.
Citation
Gray, A.M. (2017), "Preventing isolation in sheltered housing: challenges in an era of reduced support funding", Working with Older People, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 186-194. https://doi.org/10.1108/WWOP-05-2017-0011
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited