Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Exploring Age-Friendly Environments in Rural Settings: Case Study from Finnish Lapland

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
New Challenges to Ageing in the Rural North

Part of the book series: International Perspectives on Aging ((Int. Perspect. Aging,volume 22))

Abstract

The environment plays a vital role in ensuring quality of life for older people in the rural north. In this chapter, I examine how older people identify the characteristics of age-friendly environments in rural settings. “Age-friendly environment” can be understood in different ways: as a natural, human-built or social environment. Analysing interviews conducted in the Enontekiö region of northern Finland, I ascertain older people’s perceptions and understanding of what constitutes an age-friendly environment. In addition, I investigate the changes and challenges which older persons encounter in their daily lives that affect the potential of their environment to be age-friendly. The analysis reveals that the key elements of such an environment are good forest, land, fresh water, good connections with family, neighbours, and the community, and an accommodating built environment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • AARP (2005). Livable communities: an evaluation guide. Washington, DC: AARP, Public Policy Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • AARP (2010). Home and community preferences of the 45+ population. Washington, DC: AARP, Public Policy Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aarsæther, N. & Jørgen, B. (2001). Reflexive local development. Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers, pp. 15–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abbott, P., & Sapsford, R. (2005). Living on the margins: Older people, place and social exclusion. Policy Studies, 26, 29–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • AFRRCI. (2006). Age-friendly rural and remote communities: A guide. http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/seniorsaines/altformats/pdf/publications/public/healthy-sante/age_friendly_rural/AFRRC_en.pdf. Accessed 18 July 2017.

  • AHDR-II. (2014). Arctic Human Development Report: Regional Processes and Global Linkages. Larsen, J.N.& Fondahl, G. (eds.). Copenhagen: Nordisk Ministerråd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alley, D., Liebig, P., Pynoos, J., Banerjee, T., & Choi, I. H. (2007). Creating elder-friendly communities: Preparations for an aging society. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 49, 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alshenqeeti, H. (2014). Interviewing as a data collection method: A critical review. English. Linguistics Research, 3(1).

    Google Scholar 

  • Austin, C., Flux, D., Ghali, L., Hartley, D., Holinda, D., McClelland, R., Sieppert, J., & Wild, T. (2001). A place to call home: final report of the Elder Friendly Communities Project, 2001. http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/bu/cns/elder_friendly_communities.pdf. Accessed 18 Sept 2017.

  • Bäck, M. A., & Calltorp, J. (2015). The Norrtaelje model: A unique model for integrated health and social care in Sweden. International Journal of Integrated Care, 15(6).

    Google Scholar 

  • Balestrieri, M. (2016). Exploring the concept of rurality among university students in Sardinia. Rural Society, 25(2).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Begum, S. (2016). Livelihood transformation in the Nordic Arctic (Finnish Lapland): Effects on older people from a gender-based perspective. Polar Record, 52(2), 159–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bubolz, M. M., & Sontag, M. S. (1993). Human ecology theory. In P. G. Boss, W. J. Doherty, R. LaRossa, W. R. Schumm, & S. K. Steinmetz (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods, a contextual approach (pp. 419–448). New York: Plenum.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Chan, A. W., Chan, H. Y., Chan, I. K., Cheung, B. Y., & Lee, D. T. (2016). An age-friendly living environment as seen by Chinese older adults: A “Photovoice” study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13(9), pii: E913. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13090913.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, S. A., & Peace, S. (2008). Rurality and ageing well: A long time here. In N. Keating (Ed.), Rural ageing: A good place to grow old? Bristol: Policy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, K., & Glicksman, A. (2012). Age-friendly Philadelphia: Bringing diverse networks together around aging issues. Journal of Housing for the Elderly, 26, 121–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Copus, A., Perjo, L., Berlina, A., Jungsberg, L., Randall, L., & Sigurjónsdóttir, H. (2017). Social innovation in local development: Lessons from the Nordic countries and Scotland (p. 2). Sweden: Nordregio Working Paper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham, G. O., & Michael, Y. L. (2004). Concepts guiding the study of the impact of the built environment on physical activity for older adults: A review of the literature. American Journal of Health Promotion, 18, 435–443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative qualitative, and mixed methodologies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eales, J., Keefe, J., & Keating, N. (2008). Age-friendly rural communities. In N. Keating (Ed.), Rural ageing: A good place to grow old? Bristol: Policy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2009). EUR 24044- special issue on healthcare. Healthy ageing and the future of public healthcare systems. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feldman, P. H., & Oberlink, M. R. (2003). The AdvantAge initiative. Developing community indicators to promote the health and wellbeing of older people. Fam Community Health, 26, 268–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilroy, R. (2008). Places that support human flourishing: Lessons from later life. Planning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harju, A. (2006). Finnish civil society. KVS Foundation. http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/pdf/national_report_fi_en.pdf. Accesses 2 May 2018.

  • Hughes, A. (1997). Rurality and culture of womanhood: Domestic identities and moral order in village life. In P. Coke & J. Little (Eds.), Contested countryside cultures: Otherness, marginalization and rurality (pp. 25–30). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janine, W., Annette, L., Nancy, G., Jeanne, R., & Ruth, A. (2012). The meaning of “aging in place” to older people. The Gerontologist, 52(3), 357–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joseph, A. E., & Cloutier-Fisher, D. (2005). In G. A. Andrews & D. R. Philips (Eds.),. Ageing and place: Perspectives, policies, practice Ageing in rural communities: Vulnerable people in vulnerable places (pp. 133–146). Oxford: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Judd, B., Olsberg, D., Quinn, J., Goenhart, L., & Demirbilek, O. (2010). Dwelling, land and neighbourhood use by older home owners (AHURI Final Report No. 144). Melbourne: Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karsio, O., & Anttonen, A. (2013). Marketisation of eldercare in Finland: Legal frames, outsourcing practices and the rapid growth of for-profit services. In G. Meagher & M. Szebehely (Eds.), Marketisation in Nordic eldercare: A research report in legislation, oversight, extent and consequences (pp. 85–125). Stockholm: Stockholm University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keating, N., & Phillips, J. (2008). A critical human ecology perspective on rural ageing. In N. Keating (Ed.), Rural ageing: A good place to grow old? Bristol, UK: Policy Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Keller, I. M., & Kalache, A. (1997). Promoting healthy aging in cities: The healthy cities project in Europe. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 12, 287–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keyes, L., Phillips, D. R., Sterling, E., Manegdeg, T., Kelly, M., Trimble, G., & Mayerik, C. (2014). Transforming the way we live together: A model to move communities from policy to implementation. Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 26, 117–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, R. (1996). Research methodology: A step by step guide for beginners. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kutsar, D., & Kuronen, M. (2015). Local welfare policy making in European cities. Cham: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kyngäs, H. & Vanhanen, L. (1999). Sisällönanalyysi. Hoitotiede, 11(1), s.3–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lai, M-M., Lein, S-Y., Lau, S-H. & Lai, M-L. (2016). Modeling age-friendly environment, active aging, and social connectedness in an emerging Asian economy. Journal of Aging Research, 2016, Article ID 2052380.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawton, M. P. (1977). The impact of the environment on aging and behavior. In J. E. Birren & K. W. Schaie (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging (pp. 276–301). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawton, M. P., & Nahemow, L. (1973). Ecology and the aging process. In C. Eisdorfer & L. Nahemow (Eds.), The psychology of adult development and aging (pp. 464–488). Washington, DC: American Psychology Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leis, M., & Gijsbers, G. (2011). Active and healthy Ageing-A long term view up to 2015. Brussels: European Foresight Platform.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lui, C. W., Everingham, J. A., Warburton, J., Cuthill, M., & Bartlett, H. (2009). What makes a community age friendly: A review of the international literature. Australasian Journal on Aging, 28, 116–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menec, V. H., Means, R., Keating, N., Parkhurst, G., & Eales, J. (2011). Conceptualizing age-friendly communities. Canadian Journal on Aging/La Revue canadienne du vieillissement, 30(3), 479–493.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menec, V. H., Hutton, L., Newall, N., Nowicki, S., Spina, J., & Eselyuk, D. (2015). How ‘age-friendly’ are rural communities and what community characteristics are related to age-friendliness? The case of rural Manitoba, Canada. Ageing and Society, 35(1), 203–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moberg, L., Blomqvist, P., & Winblad, U. (2016). User choice in Swedish eldercare - conditions for informed choice and enhanced service quality. Journal of European Social Policy, 26(3), 281–295. https://doi.org/10.1177/0958928716645076.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naskali, P., Seppänen, M. & Begum, S.(eds.) (2016). Ageing, Wellbeing and Climate Change in the Arctic: An interdisciplinary analysis, Routledge – Earthscan.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Hehir, Janet. (2014). Age-friendly cities and communities: A literature review. University of South Australia: the Centre for Work + Life. http://www.unisa.edu.au/Research/Centre-for-Work-Life. Accessed 24 Jan 2018.

  • OECD. (2014). Health at a glance: Europe 2014. OECD Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2017). Seminar on linking rural definitions and policies for coordinated rural development. Warsaw, 7 April 2017. https://www.oecd.org/regional/regional-policy/Proceedings-linking-rural-definitions.pdf. Accessed 25 Jan 2018.

  • Phillips, D. R., Siu, O.-L., Yeh, A. G. O., & Cheng, K. H. G. (2005). Ageing and the urban environment. In J. A. Gavin & D. R. Phillips (Eds.), Ageing and place: Perspectives, policy, practice (pp. 147–163). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillipson, C. (2004). Urbanisation and ageing: Towards a new environmental gerontology. Ageing and Society, 24, 963–972.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillipson, C. (2007). The ‘elected’ and the ‘excluded’: Sociological perspectives on the experience of place and community in old age. Ageing and Society, 27, 321–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plouffe, L. A., & Kalache, A. (2010). Towards global age-friendly cities: Determining urban features that promote active aging. Journal of Urban Health, 87(5), 733–739.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plouffe, L. A., & Kalache, A. (2011). Making communities age friendly: State and municipal initiatives in Canada and other countries. Gaceta Sanitaria, 25(2), 131–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plouffe, L. A., Kalache, A., & Voelcker, I. (2016). A critical review of the WHO age-friendly cities methodology and its implementation. In T. Moulaert & S. Garon (Eds.), Age-friendly cities and communities in international comparison, international perspectives on aging 14. Cham: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Puthenparambil, J. M., & Kröger, T. (2016). Using private social care services in Finland: Free or forced choices for older people? Journal of Social Service Research, 42(2), 167–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothwell, N., Bollman, R. D., Tremblay, J., & Marshall, J. (2002). Recent migration patterns in rural and small town Canada (Agriculture and Rural working paper series, (Working paper no 55)). Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scharf, T., Phillipson, C., & Smith, A. (2007). Aging in a difficult place: Assessing the impact of urban deprivation on older people. In H.-W. Wahl, C. Tesch-Romer, & A. Hoff (Eds.), New dynamics in old age: Individual, environmental and societal perspectives (pp. 153–173). New York: Baywood Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scharlach, A. E., & Lehning, A. J. (2016). Creating aging-friendly communities. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seong, J. K. (2016). Family care-givers’: difficulties and patterns of elderly care policy in Finland and South Korea. Master’s thesis: University of Tampere, School of Social Sciences and Humanities.

    Google Scholar 

  • Short, R. (2006). Boosting the immune system. Nursing Older People, 18, 18–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sidorenko, A., & Walker, A. (2004). The Madrid international plan of action on ageing: From conception to implementation. Ageing and Society, 24, 147–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sirviö, A. & Illikainen, K. (2015). Sustainable buildings for the high North. Energy performance of current building stock in Scandinavia and Russia. ePooki. Publications of the Oulu University of Applied Sciences research and development 17. http://urn.fi/urn:isbn:978-951-597-128-9. Accessed 28 Jan 2018.

  • Smith, A. E. (2009). Ageing in urban neighbourhoods: Place attachment and social exclusion. Bristol: University of Bristol: The policy Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sosiaali- ja Terveysministeriö. (2017). Laatusuositus hyvän ikääntymisen turvaamiseksi ja palvelujen parantamiseksi 2017–2019. Helsinki: Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö ja Kuntaliitto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Finland. (2016). Population density by area. Statistics Finland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Finland. (2017). http://www.citypopulation.de/php/finland-admin.php?adm2id=047. Accessed 29 Jan 2018.

  • Tuomi, J. & Sarajärvi, A. (2004). Laadullinen tutkimus ja sisällönanalyysi. Jyväskylä: Gummerus Kirjapaino Oy.

    Google Scholar 

  • UN. (2003). International plan of action on ageing. www.un.org/esa/socdev/ageing/ageipaa.htm. Accessed 18 July 2017.

  • Wahl, H.-W., Scheidt, R., & Windley, P. G. (Eds.). (2003). Annual review of gerontology & geriatrics, Vol. 23, Ageing in context: Socio-physical environments. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • WHO. (2007). Global age-friendly cities: A guide. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO. Available online: http://www.Who.Int/ageing/projects/age_friendly_cities/en/. Accessed on 20 Jan 2017.

  • WHO. (2016). Age friendly environment. 2016. Available online: http://www.Who.Int/ageing/projects/age-friendly-environments/en/. Accessed 20 Jan 2017.

Download references

Acknowledgement

I acknowledge and thank the participants from Luppokoti and participants from Peltovuoma village who shared their experiences. I thank Satu Marja, the director of Luppokoti and Sirpa Helena Seppälä from Peltovuoma village for their cooperations.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit for Gender Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland

    Shahnaj Begum

Authors
  1. Shahnaj Begum
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shahnaj Begum .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Unit for Gender Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland

    Päivi Naskali

  2. School of Social Work, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Joan R. Harbison

  3. Unit for Gender Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland

    Shahnaj Begum

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Begum, S. (2019). Exploring Age-Friendly Environments in Rural Settings: Case Study from Finnish Lapland. In: Naskali, P., Harbison, J., Begum, S. (eds) New Challenges to Ageing in the Rural North. International Perspectives on Aging, vol 22. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20603-1_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20603-1_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-20602-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-20603-1

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation