The effect of living arrangement as an influence on social participation and determinant of life satisfaction among the elderly

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between two types of living arrangements for the elderly and the resulting activity as both a result of role loss and a determinant of life satisfaction. A conventional form of housing for the elderly, senior citizen apartments, was compared to a newly emerging form of housing, shared living, in terms of type and level of activity. Comparisons were also made in the resulting levels of life satisfaction reflecting both of the two living arrangements.

The sample for the study was composed of a total of 117 elderly individuals, 52 residing in five shared living sites, and 65 residing in two senior citizen apartment complexes. All subjects were age 62 or older, widowed, ambulatory and capable of independent living, and of moderate income.

A survey approach was utilized with data collected through a written questionnaire. Four instruments measuring participation in leisure activities, participation in voluntary associations, life satisfaction, and selected sociodemographic characteristics composed the questionnaire. The leisure activity measure consisted of three subsets as did the voluntary participation measure. Both measures were analyzed in composite form and as subsets. Five hypotheses were tested using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients and least squares analysis of variance.

Results from the study indicated that social participation in both leisure pursuits and voluntary associations was affected by age, site, and educational attainment. Overall participation in these activities was relatively low, with residents of senior citizen apartments attaining higher levels of participation on all measures than their counterparts in shared living.

Level of life satisfaction for all participants as well as by site was slightly below the established mean for the index. All participants reported moderate levels of life satisfaction. No significant difference in life satisfaction between sites surfaced. Level of life satisfaction was found to be affected by health, educational attainment, and participation in leisure pursuits and voluntary associations.