Die rol van aftree-oorde in die behuisingsvoorsiening vir bejaardes in Groter Kaapstad : 'n stedelike geografiese perspektief

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:During the 1990s in South Africa an increasing need for care and housing for the agedbecame evident. On the one hand greater longevity created a rapid increase in thenumber of aged people of all population groups, and on the other, changes in governmentpolicy foreshadowed a drastic scaling down of the role of the state with regard to thesupply of housing for the aged. In the midst of these changes, one type of housing for theaged has remained outside the pale of the altering policy scenario: retirement villages.This then is the main focus of the study.Taking into account the fact that retirement villages presently focus mainly on a singleelderly group, namely wealthy white persons, and set against the backdrop of thechanging situation regarding policy towards housing for the aged, the question ariseswhether in future retirement villages will be capable of providing housing for a greaterpercentage of elderly people than at present. The present demand and supply ofretirement villages is critically evaluated within the context of housing for the aged ingeneral in order to contribute to a future vision for housing for the aged within the newSouth Africa. In view of this - and taking into account cultural, financial and age differences- the housing and care needs, as well as the preferences and perceptions of 228 elderlypersons, are analysed and compared in this respect with the views of relevant interestedparties, namely gerontologists, sociologists, non-governmental organizations andretirement village developers.In focusing on 34 retirement villages in the greater Cape Town area, this study fills the gapthat exists within urban geography regarding housing for the aged. An analysis is done ofthe location of retirement villages in this area, as well as of the factors that influence theselection of locations for such housing schemes. Not only are issues of supply anddemand addressed, but also the problems with which the retirement village industry has todeal, such as service delivery, grading (classification status according to specificstandards) and the spatial placing of villages. In this wayan attempt is made to find asolution to related problems.The most important conclusion that arose from this research can be summarized as beingthat elderly people show a lack of knowledge regarding the services offered by these facilities. For this reason retirement villages have been classified under four headings,according to the care services they offer, namely the independent lifestyle village, thesupportive care village, the continuous care village and the care for life village. Retirementvillages can play an ever-increasing role in providing housing and care for the aged. Thiswill only happen if the various preferences, opinions and perceptions of the differentgroups of elderly persons are seriously considered and compared to the views of theexperts in the field.The basic preferences of the aged can be summarised as: renting residential units insteadof buying them; no luxuries such as therapy services; safety considerations incorporated inthe design of the interior of the units; being able to use their own furniture in the units;primary health care offered; availability of recreational facilities; good corporatemanagement and accessibility to essential services (in terms of the location of the village).In conclusion, experts of retirement village housing should avoid problems that stem frominjudiciously developing complexes that through their inaccessiblity isolate residents fromthe rest of the community.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University