Engelen, L; Rahmann, M and de Jong, E (2022) Design for healthy ageing–the relationship between design, well-being, and quality of life: A review. Building Research & Information, 50(1-2), pp. 19-35. ISSN 0961-3218
Abstract
Although people are living longer, well-being and quality of life (QoL) are not guaranteed. The built environment is recognized as influencing health outcomes across lifespans. This narrative review takes a cross-disciplinary approach to understand the current evidence of the relationship between design, healthy ageing and QoL. Diverse methods were used to search for relevant literature, including database, and reference list search. Sixty-five papers were deemed relevant and included in this review. Seven main themes emerged through inductive thematic analysis. The extracted literature suggests there is good evidence for the role of biophilia, and indoor environmental quality; emerging evidence for technology, wayfinding, and opportunities for social interactions; but limited evidence for safety/security and adaptability/fit. One significant consideration for healthy ageing was older adults maintaining agency in their lives, including the ability to exert control over their environment in order to support healthy ageing. Design decisions have a significant impact on the health and well-being of older adults, but these decisions are often made in the absence of strong scientific evidence. This review sets out to assist decision-makers to consider design principles that support healthy ageing.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | biophilia; built environment; indoor environmental quality; older adults; technology; wayfinding |
| Index terms: | health and wellbeing, quality of life, design principle, lifespan, agency, design decision, narrative, well-being, evidence, thematic analysis, adaptability, database, biophilia, social interaction, wayfinding, indoor environmental quality, built environment |
| Subjects: | environmental health, infrastructure and transport systems, sociology, building performance, data management, methods and analysis, qualitative and interpretive research, public and environmental health, design practice, material degradation and durability, human factors and perception, design methods, user focus, mental health and wellbeing, evaluation and assessment methods |
| Topics: | Digital Applications, Urban Studies, Design Practice, Construction Materials, Research Practice, Health and Safety, Sustainability |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 CTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here