Social interaction in old age: Assessments on housing and its environment

The ability of elders to continue their lives in familiar environments without leaving their current residential areas, that is, searching for ways to age in place, plays a leading role in overcoming the difficulties encountered in housing. The goal of aging in place is not only to live a problem-free life in a residential environment. It enables older people to live actively by interacting with their environment visually, audibly, and physically. So, socialization activities and characteristics become essential in old age. Within the scope of the study, determining the definition, scope, and importance of socialization for the old age period; investigating the spatial projections and qualities of socialization in housing and its immediate surroundings, and examining the preferences and determining the preferences and expectations of the older people regarding these places is aimed. The researcher conducted a face-to-face survey with 100 older adults over 60 and the frequency distribution, Mann Whitney U, and Kruskal Wallis tests were used to analyze the data. When elders evaluate the contribution of housing and its immediate surroundings to active and healthy aging based on socialization, the research shows that they integrate socialization into their lives with different dimensions, such as physical presence and visual contact, according to their expectations and preferences. The study revealed that gender is decisive in the choice of socialization activities, the type of housing, and the floor lived on regarding the use and satisfaction of space.