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Public summary

鈥嬧�嬧�嬧�婽he rapid aging and consequent societal changes nowadays have led to the introduction of a new governmental policy for stimulating older people to age in their own homes. Therefore, an appropriate living environment has become an important element of older people鈥檚 everyday life. Such an environment should be 鈥渆mpathic鈥� and supportive not only physically, but also socially, and corresponding to their specific needs (Mohammadi, 2017).

Older adults, encouraged to age at home face growing social challenges, such as loneliness. Because of the physical and/or cognitive limitations, associated with older age, seniors are at particular risk by not being able to establish sufficient contacts and qualitative social interaction with others. Loneliness can be an acute problem, which negatively affects both older people鈥檚 wellbeing and society.

Experiencing social loneliness or isolation among seniors can negatively impact their health (Courtin & Knapp, 2017). Further, many studies find evidence for the link between the social wellbeing of seniors (including social isolation and loneliness) and the utilization levels and cost of health care facilities (Ellaway et al., 1999), (Gerst-Emerson & Jayawardhana, 2015)) (Molloy et al., 2010), (Newall et al., 2015). The socio-demographic changes described above require searching for innovative, socially supportive housing solutions for seniors to age in place.

The need to answer the social challenges of their customers and propose empathic and supportive living environment, has resulted in a two-years PDEng project, conducted in collaboration between the Technical University Eindhoven and Housing Association Woonzorg Nederland.

It is assumed, that communal housing because of its strong social component, can stimulate social interaction between residents and promote social cohesion as result (Fromm, 2000), (Williams, 2005).

From this point of view, community living may contribute to the socially comfortable ageing in place of seniors (Labit, 2015).

Although co-housing is seen by many as a good solution for seniors, there is still systematized knowledge missing on how these should be designed, to promote its hypothetic positive effects on seniors鈥� social wellbeing and health. Therefore, the main research question of this study states: How communal housing spaces can be designed to attract residents, stimulate social interaction among them and promote social cohesion in result?

In the current project the research question is answered in three phases: exploration, translation, and process (design). These research phases are determined according to the conceptual framework developed by M. Mohammadi and are based on the empathic design theories (Mohammadi, 2017).

In each phase, the needs of the users and relevant stakeholders are central.

Funded by: Woningcorporatie WoonzorgNederland