title: Sheltered housing or community dwelling: quality of life and ageism among elderly people.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous studies have found correlations between negative perceptions of old age and perceived quality of life (QoL) among elderly people. It has also been suggested that a denial of aging mechanism is employed and might support ageist attitudes among private-sheltered housing tenants compared with elderly people who live in the community and experience intra-generational interactions. Therefore, we hypothesized that tenants of sheltered housing will report more ageist attitudes towards people of their own age, and report a lower QoL than elderly people who live in the community.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample included 126 volunteers, aged between 64 and 94 years, who live in private-sheltered housing (n = 32) or in the community (n = 94). The participants completed the Fraboni scale of ageism, and a QoL Inventory (SF-36).
  
  
  RESULTS
  People, and men in particular, who live in sheltered housing, reported more intergenerational ageist attitudes than men and women who live in the community. Tenants in sheltered housing expressed lower evaluations of their mental health, but higher evaluations on "social functioning" (QoL scales). Women from sheltered housing reported better mental health than men. Gender and some QoL scales were associated with higher ageism.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Differences in ageist attitudes between both dwelling places can be interpreted according to Social Identity Theory, which refers to the impact of the ingroup on social attitudes. Differences in QoL can be understood by the accessibility of social activities in private-sheltered housing. Gender differences in ageism and QoL can be explained by women's better social adjustment. Findings should be regarded with caution because of the small sample.
authors: Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel. bodnere@biu.ac.il
authors: Ehud
authors: E
authors: Bodner
authors: Sara
authors: S
authors: Cohen-Fridel
authors: Abraham
authors: A
authors: Yaretzky
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology*; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D016852:Housing for the Elderly; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011287:Prejudice; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012933:Social Identification; D013240:Stereotyping; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires