University-Linked Retirement Communities : Student Visions of Eldercare

University-Linked Retirement Communities explores the theoretical and practical design aspects of a retirement community as an integral part of a university setting. This unique connection provides a rich and varied context for older people to be exposed to new ideas and learning, to achieve personal growth, and to discover new approaches to a meaningful life. Elders and their families, retirement service providers, college faculty and staff, and designers and architects will find inspirational approaches to retirement care in this innovative book.

University-Linked Retirement Communities focuses on the special attributes of a retirement community designed as an integral part of a university. It discusses the theoretical and practical aspects of such a retirement community, which provides a rich and varied context for older people to be exposed to new ideas and learning opportunities for personal growth.

The book centers on the premise that knowledge of basic principles of human behavior helps clarify understanding of the relationship between environment and behavior. Grounded in current research in the field of environment and aging, the book helps readers consider how the environment lends different aesthetic experiences and activity patterns to people of different backgrounds and capabilities. Some of the major environment and design issues chapters address are:

• person-environment fit
  
• privacy
  
• personal space
  
• wayfinding
  
• barrier-free design
  
• healthcare
  
• personal growth
  
• site development
  
  University-Linked Retirement Communities was developed from a two-term course offered at the University of Michigan College of Architecture and Urban Planning that dealt with aging and the environment. The book is divided into two parts. Chapters in the first section discuss a variety of issues, including the meaning of “community,” a day in the life of an elderly person living in a retirement community, site evaluation for a theoretical retirement community, and reviews of different physical components for a retirement community. The second section contains four student presentations of designs for a retirement community and comments on the projects from a design jury.
  
  This book is a valuable source of information for a variety of readers. University-Linked Retirement Communities is of interest to potential users of eldercare services and their families; service providers; designers, architects, policymakers, and developers dealing with the elderly; and educators and students of architecture, environmental design, and other fields who are involved in housing and care options for senior adults.