Open AccessMoving residence in later life: actively shaping place and wellbeing
Author(s) -
Manik Gopinath,
Vikki Entwistle,
Timothy B. Kelly,
Barbara Illsley
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of ageing and later life
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.341
H-Index - 15
ISSN - 1652-8670
DOI - 10.3384/ijal.1652-8670.1539
Subject(s) - relocation , residence , value (mathematics) , capability approach , sociology , older people , political science , gerontology , medicine , computer science , law , demography , machine learning , programming language
Policy discourse favours the idea of “ageing in place” but many older people move home and into different kinds of residential settings. This article extends the understanding of how relocation can promote as well as diminish older people’s well-being. Using relational understandings of place and capabilities (people’s freedoms and opportunities to be and to do what they value) we explored well-being across the relocation trajectories of 21 people aged 65–91 years living in diverse residential settings in Scotland. We found that a diverse array of capabilities mattered for well-being and that relocation was often motivated by concerns to secure “at-risk” capabilities for valued activities and relationships. Moving residence impacted several other capabilities, in addition to these, both, positively and negatively. We suggest that a capability approach offers a valuable lens for understanding and supporting well-being through behavioural models of late-life relocation.