Satisfaction and Quality of Housing among Older Persons in Rural East Trinidad

Currently the proportion of older persons in rural areas is rising. Many of those based in rural areas are older persons with a strong agricultural background and indeed many are aging farmers. This study determined for low-income older persons in rural Trinidad and Tobago their satisfaction with their housing, their housing quality status and the factors influencing their housing quality status. 300 old aged pensioners (65 and 103 years old) were personally interviewed. While the majority (67.7 %) of older persons was satisfied with their housing, 46 % had poor quality housing. Older persons considered themselves to be in poorer health than the general US population, but in about the same state of mental health. The main predictors of housing quality status were whether the respondent lived alone, the levels of education, income and the gender of the elderly respondent.