Threats to the independence of the elderly poor : a study of an inner city hotel, Victoria, B.C.
Date
1981
Authors
Sullivan, Michael
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Abstract
Mobility is generally considered a prerequisite to the contacts necessary for competence and self-direction in an urban environment. Contacts enhance mutually supportive interpersonal relations as well as provide needed goods and services. This concept suggests that the mobility of different groups of people must be considered in the design of the physical environment. One clearly recognizable group is the inner city elderly poor who possess low levels of mobility and have been able to maintain their independence from institutional care largely because of the advantages of a central location. Nevertheless, modernization and redevelopment trends are exerting increasing pressures on the lifestyles and the residential environments of many of Victoria's centrally located elderly poor.
The disproportionate representation of the elderly in the dilapidated central areas susceptible to renewal schemes is apparent in Victoria where almost 30 percent of the residential population of the CBD is at least 65 years of age. As in many other metropolitan areas, Victoria's inner city elderly population is characterized by generally low incomes and exceptionally high ages. Many of these people have be enable to maintain their independence only by living in relatively homogeneous inner city hotels. In light of the paucity of information relating to elderly inner city residents and in order to investigate the recent loss of many downtown hotels to renewal and upgrading, a participant observation study at the Fairfield Hotel was undertaken. This study was intended to provide basic information on the needs and desires of elderly hotel residents.
The objectives of this study include: to determine how closely observable behavior fits with the existing body of knowledge; to assess the degree of congruence between behavior and environmental props; to trace the impact of change/displacement on individuals; and to develop planning strategies oriented to the adaptive strengths of the elderly poor. In this respect, the study endeavours to delineate common themes, shared activity patterns and collective adaptive mechanisms. However, the inquiry is also directed to a general review of aging in both Canada and Victoria as well as an examination of local renewal trends. In this way comparisons can be made with the results of other studies. These objectives require a range of supplementary methodologies including archival research and repeated interviews with hotel owners and local administrators and planners.
This inquiry has revealed many feature s of an informal social system at the Fairfield Hotel which supports the fragile existence of many elderly residents. Furthermore, hotel residents displayed an extraordinarily large mobility profile. Despite the infrequent use of automobiles or public transit, ambulatory residents averaged at least two trips from home daily. High levels of mobility were felt to be related to high degrees of satisfaction with both transportation arrangements and the residential environment. Such factors emphasize the need to maintain downtown hotels in the face of renewal and upgrading programs. Nevertheless , the problems of the independent elderly poor are also related to the position of the elderly in society. In this respect social attitudes towards the elderly clearly must change.
Because of the paucity of research in the area of the elderly poor, it is important to emphasize that this investigation is exploratory in nature and relies largely on description. As the study is intended to provide basic information on a previously isolated social sub-group, firm conclusions must be based on further research. Nevertheless, the tenuous position of the inner city elderly poor was apparent and very real threats to their independence were observed.