German Center for Age Issues
Berlin (ots)
Older people spend a lot of time at home and close to where they live. The housing conditions ensure their participation in social life, especially if their mobility is restricted. Barrier-free access to the apartment and to the rooms within the apartment is an important prerequisite for daily mobility. But do the homes of people with restricted mobility meet these requirements?
Most people live in their own household until old age. With increasing age and health problems, older people reduce their radius of action and spend more time in their home and the surrounding area. At the same time, they suffer more from limitations resulting from their home and the living environment. Barriers in the home and its surroundings therefore have a major impact on older people’s degree of self-determination in old age.
Using data from the German Aging Survey (DEAS) 2020/21, scientists from the German Center for Gerontology examined whether people over the age of 65 live in apartments that have reduced barriers. The criterion for this is that access to the apartment and the rooms within the apartment must be accessible without steps or stairs.
The question of how well older people with restricted mobility are provided with reduced-barrier housing was of particular interest: 76.8 percent of the 65-year-olds and older with restricted mobility do not live in a reduced-barrier apartment. However, there are differences between different population groups: East Germans and people who have not moved at the age of 65 and over are less likely to live in an apartment with reduced barriers, for example. And compared to the top income group, older people in the bottom income group live less often in a flat with reduced barriers.
The results show that too few older people have barrier-free access to their apartments and rooms, even if they suffer from restricted mobility. Politicians in Germany have recognized that there are not enough barrier-free apartments and that the need will increase in view of the demographic development. However, high costs and other factors often prevent those affected from making adjustments to their housing situation as needed, especially if they live in precarious financial circumstances. The federal government is trying to counter this problem with a program that provides funds for the removal of barriers in the building stock via the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau. Nevertheless, the situation in Germany is exacerbated by the lack of affordable housing in general, especially in large cities and their metropolitan areas.
Die detaillierten Ergebnisse sind zu nachzulesen in: Nowossadeck, S., Romeu Gordo. L., & Lozano Alcántara, A. (2023). Mobility restriction and barrier-reduced housing among people aged 65 or older in Germany: Do those who need it live in barrier-reduced residences? Frontiers in Public Health 11/2023.
Under a press graphic and an English version of the press release are available.
The German Aging Survey (DEAS) is a representative cross-sectional and longitudinal survey of people in the second half of life. As part of the study, people on their way to old age have been regularly questioned for more than two decades. The German Age Survey is funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ).
Press contact:
Stefanie Hartmann
German Center for Age Issues
press office
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[email protected]
Tel.: 030 / 260 740 25
Original content from: German Center for Gerontology, transmitted by news aktuell
