SOCIAL AND PHYSICAL NEIGHBOURHOOD ASPECTS AS BALANCING FACTORS FOR FRAILTY AND FRAILTY OUTCOMES

摘要

This paper presents results of the Belgian-Dutch Detection-Support and Care for Older people: Prevention and Empowerment (D-SCOPE) project. The aim of the project is to detect frail community-dwelling older adults who previously went unnoticed and to increase their wellbeing through tailored made interventions. This particular study uses the data of the first wave of a longitudinal study and investigates whether social neighbourhood aspects (i.e. social cohesion, low-key participation and feelings of safety) or physical neighbourhood aspects (i.e. presence of basic services, traffic, walkability) moderate the relationship between frailty and dimensions of wellbeing (i.e. life satisfaction, meaning in life, mastery) for frail older adults. The Comprehensive Frailty Assessment Instrument (CFAI-plus) was used for the assessment of multidimensional frailty in a stratified sample based on risk profiles for frailty (n= 872). Overall, results indicate a difference of moderating effects between the different dimensions of frailty. For the social environment, interaction effects were found between social cohesion and mastery. For the physical environment, most interaction effects were found for basic services in the neighbourhood and outcomes life satisfaction, meaning in life and mastery. This paper contributes to the larger D-SCOPE study and shows that both physical and social aspects of the living environment of older adults are balancing factors for frailty in later life and are important elements to age well in place.