Abstract
This chapter discusses the environment of the older adult in a context of climate change and from the perspective of environmental gerontology. The study provides greater understanding of the attributes and functions of the physical-social environments of older people, with respect to increasing environmental pressures of natural origin, with special attention on floods in developing regions such as Latin America and the Caribbean. The methodology consisted of an extensive review of study literature, paying special attention to both quantitative and empirical approaches, and quantitative and non-empirical approaches. The results show that adaptation of the attributes and functions of the physical social environment of the older adult favours prevention strategies and improves their resilience to climate change. It is proposed that future research helps develop policies designed to adapt the physical-built and social environment of ageing and reduce vulnerability.
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Notes
- 1.
Climate change is defined as a change in the extent and/or properties state of the climate that persists for an extended period (IPCC 2007).
- 2.
Natural hazard-related disasters disrupt social and natural systems (infrastructure- -> damage, drinking water contamination- ->), increasing the potential for transmission of diseases already present in the region (Smith 1999), as well as raising the morbidity- -> and mortality- -> rates of vulnerable groups.
- 3.
It is estimated that in 2050, 70 % of the population of developing countries will live- -> in cities- -> (OCDE 2009).
- 4.
- 5.
Vulnerability is regarded as a decisive factor when studying natural hazards (Cutter et al. 2003; Hutton and Haque 2004; Fekete 2009; Hoof et al. 2011; Appeaning et al. 2011); and can be taken as the level of danger that an elderly person faces of losing their life, property and livelihood- -> system in a possible catastrophe - -> (Neumayer and Plümper 2007). However, any vulnerability analysis entails a certain complexity, tied to the high degree of error in its estimates (Aguirre 2006; Sánchez and Egea 2011). Many authors agree that poverty increases vulnerability in old age- -> through social exclusion- -> (Chakraborty et al. 2005). It has been shown that environmental vulnerability associated with ageing, and derived from the urban environment’s dangers (environmental pressures) and personal abilities- ->, is built on socioeconomic and spatial subjectivity factors, so any reductionism limits their understanding (Sánchez-González 2009).
- 6.
Recent years have seen an upturn in interest in resilience, which is taken to mean the skills, strategies and assets that older adults have to anticipate, withstand and recover from a disaster- -> experience (Sánchez and Egea 2011). Resilience refers to the way that the elderly cope with an extreme event and their ability- -> to adapt to it (Wood et al. 2010), where the physical-social environment is a decisive factor.
- 7.
Old age- -> brings a progressive loss of physical and psychological skills that hinders one’s relationship with the environment, which helps to foster a negative perception of the environment’s functions and attributes- -> (Robinson and Rosher 2001). Indeed, the study of the elderly’s spatial experiences- -> indicates that the maintenance of daily activities promotes an individual’s autonomy- -> and adaptive capacities, increasing their perception of wellbeing and their relationship with the environment.
- 8.
Environmental gerontology- -> has addressed environmental elements from empirical-quantitative approaches, proving that each attribute and function has a distinctive role (Kahana et al. 2003), and from non-empirical and qualitative approaches, indicating that they can be determined and prioritized by a subjective perception (Carp and Carp 1982). Thus, the environment’s attributes and functions determine the elderly’s site creation, adaptation- ->, behaviour and action processes - -> (Wahl and Glitin 2007). Through empirical research, Wahl and Weisman (2003) have found that the planned residential environment and residential decisions serve to offer the elderly maintenance, stimulation and support functions that can counteract potential environmental pressures.
- 9.
The vulnerable elderly take a docile and determinist attitude- -> to environmental pressures - -> (Lawton and Nahemow 1973), whereas resilient elderly are - -> proactive, that is to say, they establish adaptation strategies and manage their assets to transform their environment, contributing to their security and risk management.
- 10.
The region has been found to lack enough means of transport (boats, ambulances, adapted public transport) to evacuate dependent elderly population in risk areas. The frequent disasters show that the evacuation- -> systems used, such as unadapted public transport and private vehicles used for cargo, are highly precarious.
- 11.
- 12.
Green areas are urban facilities that promote everyday life and trigger a sense of safety because they allow the recreational activities and, especially, social relations (Culp 2011), that are essential for facilitating informal support in the case of an emergency- ->. These amenities- -> also have direct positive effects on health- ->, fatigue and stress (Jong et al. 2011), and green areas absorb water, decreasing the height and duration of floods. However, the lack of maintenance of these amenities generates insecurity, through the build up of waste and sources of infection (dengue), as well as promoting crime and violence (Bonnes et al. 2010).
- 13.
After a disaster, it takes at least 5 L of drinking water per person per day to cover basic needs (drinking, hygiene- -> and nutrition). Emergency services (hospitals- ->, shelters) also need drinking water to meet different diverse needs (hospitalization, surgery, food, cleaning) (Rodríguez and Terry 2002). Similarly, cuts in basic services such as clean water and electricity, increase morbidity- -> and mortality- -> in this group (Callaghan et al. 2007). For example, an environment- ->’s lighting- -> conditions are associated with falls- -> among the elderly (Lök and Akin 2013). Power cuts in homes- ->, hospitals and shelters make it impossible to use the electrical appliances (artificial lighting, refrigerators, medical- -> instruments) that are essential for caring for the elderly. Additionally, the more than likely power failures mean that shelters and hospitals need to be designed better, using natural light- -> (large windows) and better spatial organization (removing architectural barriers, adapting spaces) (Andersson 2011).
- 14.
Different studies (Joseph 2006; Joseph and Rashid 2007) emphasize the importance of creating built- -> physical environments for providing health care- -> to elderly and dependent people. Yet few studies have analyzed the quality of emergency environments (shelters, and field hospitals), assessed how environmental factors impacts on nursing staff’s health- ->, or volunteers’ effectiveness- -> and mistakes. Errors in the delivery of humanitarian aid have been found to increase during natural disasters, on account of the hard work, lack of coordination and design of unsuitable environments (lighting problems, noise, crowding), which leads to physical and psychological implications (fatigue, stress) among emergency unit personnel.
- 15.
In Peru and Latin America- -> in general, many hospitals lack appropriate infrastructure- -> and fail to adopt the infection control- -> measures required during epidemics such as tuberculosis, meaning that they spread among health personnel and vulnerable patients, such as older adults (Del Castillo et al. 2009).
- 16.
Cognitively impaired individuals can find certain environments complex and stressful, even though other individuals find them stimulating (Kahanaet al. 2003).
- 17.
Byrnes et al. (2007) stress the importance of including physical-social environment analysis tools that make it easier for planners and politicians to define the environment and understand socio-spatial interactions with the elderly- ->, not to mention identify the everyday and extraordinary problems they face in their neighbourhoods, such as floods.
- 18.
Stokols (1995) refers to the interpretive transaction to explain the variation and importance of the elderly’s feelings about the place, which makes it more complicated to assess their perception of the environment’s attributes and functions, and risk management.
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Sánchez-González, D., Chávez-Alvarado, R. (2016). Adjustments to Physical-Social Environment of the Elderly to Climate Change: Proposals from Environmental Gerontology. In: Sánchez-González, D., Rodríguez-Rodríguez, V. (eds) Environmental Gerontology in Europe and Latin America. International Perspectives on Aging, vol 13. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21419-1_6
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