Spatial priorities of older adults for social participation in a senior center

Healthy aging has become a topic of upmost importance as the world’s older adult population increases. Social participation has a large impact on mental and physical health of seniors and it increases their sense of well-being as well. Senior centers are one of the important locations for social participation of older adults. This study focuses on the spatial priorities of older adults for social participation in a senior center with an aim to find out their preferences. In a selected senior center, 60 participants are interviewed about the social and physical factors in that setting. The age range was between 60 and 87 with the mean age 72.28. The majority were female, married and high school graduates. As a result of statistical factorial analysis, three groups were determined as social factors: Socialization degree, socialization frequency and demographic information. For physical factors, four groups were found: Furniture and physical comfort, finishing materials, lighting, and decoration. Several differences among age groups, genders, education levels, and occupations were found as well as numerous correlations between demographics, social factors, activities, and physical factors.