What Creates A Village?-- The Socio-Economic Factors Supporting“The Village Movement.”

As the aging population grows, “aging in place” is crucial since most people would not choose to move somewhere else when getting old. Using mixed methods, this research is the first in-depth study that explores the socioeconomic factors contributing to the emergence and growth of the “Villages” in the US. “Village” is a type of community organization that has become a promising model for aging in place in the last two decades. It is found that Villages are the product of older residents in their communities taking the initiative, reestablishing the community social networks that have been lost during the process of urbanization and modernization, and then helping to address the challenges brought by the increasing older population and decreasing local social networks. The uniqueness of Villages is to establish community social networks and provide social participation opportunities, helping older people satisfy the higher levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Some local factors could encourage the Village establishment: higher human capital and income of the residents, governmental activism, and other Villages existing in nearby areas. A certain level of social connection could help the formation of Villages; yet, very strong bonding ties would make residents have little incentives to establish Villages. The flexibility of Villages as well as their ability to work with other organizations are the key for Villages to become sustainable.

Author

• Chiu, Yi-ting

• aging in place
• community organizations
• community resilience
• mixed method
• older adult services
• Villages

Identifier

hdl:1920/13782

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:MARS:1920/13782