A Study on the Elderly Households’ Housing Needs for Aging in Places

As society increasingly ages, maintaining an independent lifestyle at home becomes an important issue for older people. This study aims to determine old people's housing needs for maintaining an independent lifestyle despite their health status and living arrangements. A total of 438 residents voluntarily took part in a research questionnaire survey through the quota sampling method. The participants were grouped according to age (60-64, 65-69, 70-74, and over 75), gender (male and female), and house type (apartment houses and others). The results are as follows. (1) The senior residents are mostly within a non occupational, low income, and low subjective living status. (2) They are satisfied with their current residence and hope to manage the rest of their life in the same place. (3) Three out of five residents prefer the apartment housing type to other types of housing. The preferred dwelling size, number of rooms, and preference for use of an extra room all varied depending on gender and housing type as well as whether they were a couple or living alone. (4) The older residents have a higher need for a safety system than do the younger residents. Female residents pay more attention to convenience while male residents pay more attention to safety. The non-apartment residents require more modification to fundamental facilities such as a heating and ventilation system, wind protection, and additional storage than do the apartment residents. This study has thoroughly analyzed request characteristics according to basic qualities of the elderly households.