The social convoys of affordable senior housing residents: Fellow residents and ''Time Left''

Abstract

Living in an affordable senior housing site is a viable option for older adults who want to age in a community setting. Affordable senior housing is subsidized housing provided in the United States by the federal government's Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Such housing is available to people 62-years-of-age and older whose income level is low enough to merit federal assistance. The current study assessed the social convoys of 32 residents of one affordable senior housing site, with interest in the number of co-residents included in participants' social convoys, as well as participants' levels of social isolation and loneliness. In the present study, family relationships made up the largest proportion of residents' social convoys (38.6%); however, co-residents made up 26% of participants' social convoys. There was a positive correlation between the number of years that participants had lived at the affordable senior housing site and the percent of co-residents in their social convoys r=.39, p=.03. These findings suggest that under certain conditions older adults are willing to invest in creating new relationships with co-residents in congregate settings. The implications of these findings are explored.