Effects of social, psychological and physical environments on quality of life in old age: A case of Antalya city

In parallel to advance in age, a variety of losses and changes may occur in various fields of the lives of people. These losses and changes may be related to health, economic situation, emotions, psychology or physical functions. And the situations which losses or changes occur, make individuals become more open to environmental effects. Environmental Gerontology is a field which evaluates the relation and compatibility between person and environment in old age, and in this study, it was purposed to evaluate the concept of "ageing in urban area" on older people who live in inner city of Antalya, from perspective of environmental gerontology and to evaluate the effects of environmental, social and physical perceptions on perceived quality of life. In accordance with these purposes, the answer was sought to this research question: How do the perceptions of older adults related to their social, physical and psychological environments affect to their quality of life?" To evaluate the research problem at issue, a questionnare which includes demography and health related questions, neighborhood walkability scale, social capital scale, neighborhood attachment scale and quality of life scale was applied to the residents who are 65 years old and over. As a result of data collection and statistical analyses, it was found that there are effects of environmental dimensions such as social capital, neighborhood attachment and neighborhood walkability on the quality of life. In addition, social capital has a mediator role on the effects of physical environment and income on the quality of life, and moreover, the neighborhood attachment has the mediator role on the effects of neighborhood walkability and social capital on the quality of life. Consequently, when it is evaluated the effects of various dimensions of environment, it is possible to encounter with results which demonstrate not only direct but also indirect effect levels on the quality of life. And these interactions provide us possibilities to consider the detailed formation of their effects on quality of life.