title: Social participation among older adults living in medium-sized cities in Belgium: the role of neighbourhood perceptions.
abstract: This study examines the associations between neighbourhood perceptions and social participation in a sample of older adults living in medium-sized cities in Flanders, Belgium. Strong evidence of the influence of place on older people's physical and mental health exists. However, the question of how neighbourhoods promote or hinder social participation remains under-explored in social gerontology. Using data generated from the Belgian Ageing Studies, a multivariate regression model (n = 1877) is tested, with personal characteristics, subjective neighbourhood assessments and objective city-level measures as independent variables, and two indicators of social participation as dependent variables: social activity and formal participation. Positive predictors included neighbourhood involvement, frequent contact with neighbours and availability of activities for older people. However, the predictive role of neighbourhood perceptions is stronger for formal participation than for social activity, which is explained more by individual characteristics. The article concludes by discussing the implications of the findings for research and practice pertaining to health promotion interventions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Adult Educational Sciences, Free University of Brussels (VUB), Belgium Cathie Marsh Centre for Censuses and Surveys, School of Social Sciences, the University of Manchester, UK tine.buffel@vub.ac.be.
authors.forename: Tine
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Buffel
authors.affiliation: Department of Adult Educational Sciences, Free University of Brussels (VUB), Belgium.
authors.forename: Liesbeth
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Donder
authors.affiliation: Cathie Marsh Centre for Censuses and Surveys, School of Social Sciences, the University of Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Phillipson
authors.affiliation: Department of Adult Educational Sciences, Free University of Brussels (VUB), Belgium.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dury
authors.affiliation: Department of Adult Educational Sciences, Free University of Brussels (VUB), Belgium Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Care, University College Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Nico
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: De Witte
authors.affiliation: Department of Adult Educational Sciences, Free University of Brussels (VUB), Belgium.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Verté
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D001530:Belgium; D002947:Cities; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D010465:Perception; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D058992:Social Participation; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: neighbourhood; older people; social participation