ERIC Number: EJ773493
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2003
Pages: 14
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0091-4150
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Aging in Place: Knowing where You Are
Rosel, Natalie
International Journal of Aging and Human Development, v57 n1 p77-90 2003
Research on aging in place appropriately emphasizes the value of familiar surroundings. The current study contributes an exploration of elders' personal knowledge of where and with whom they are aging in place, knowledge actively accumulated from a lifetime spent in the same area. Structured conversations over a four-month period with 10 elders living on a peninsula in northern Maine provide richly detailed narratives of physical and social particulars of where they live. I use Rowles' (1978) image of concentric circles radiating out from home to organize the information gathered regarding each elder's dwelling, neighborhood and community. Most notable is the depth and detail of their personal knowledge of where they are and with whom they are growing old. I conclude that both the knowledge itself, and the sharing of that knowledge with others, contribute to the implicit and explicit support deemed so valuable for elders who age in place.
Descriptors: Educational Gerontology, Aging (Individuals), Personal Narratives, Social Psychology, Social Development, Social Environment, Neighborhoods, Community Surveys, Family Environment, Indigenous Knowledge
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Maine
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A