Ageing in Place Overview for The Elderly in Malaysia – Landed Property

AGEING IN PLACE OVERVIEW FOR THE ELDERLY IN MALAYSIA – LANDED PROPERTY HOME FOR GENERATION X AND BABY BOOMERS

Sr. Dr. Siti Uzairiah Binti Mohd Tobi

Dr. Mohamad Syazli Bin Fathi

Professor Dilanthi Amaratunga

Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics

University of Technology Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur

ABSTRACT

The size of population in Malaysia had reached 28.3 million in 2010 and is expected to increase to 38.6 million in the next 30 years. Malaysia data illustrates that 7% of the older population age are more than 60 years during 2005, which is anticipated to double up to 14% in the year 2028. This research has comprehensively reviewed the relevant articles and journals to discover the concepts, definitions and issues regarding the ageing population globally and in Malaysia, particularly on how elderly people age in place. Many researchers are in agreement on the main focus areas towards a successful ageing in place home, these three main areas are housing, surrounding facilities and social inclusion.Therefore, the continuous increasing ageing population calls for the responsible parties which include all stakeholders, such as government agencies, developers, researchers, practitioners, local community and NGOs to further explore this research area. Accordingly, the concern over ageing is not only about the size of the old age population but, more importantly the health, the welfare and care, the living arrangements, the infrastructure, housing, income and economic growth. Hence, this study investigates on this issue by deploying multiple case study approach as the research design. Data are collected using semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and document reviews. NVivo software is used to analyse the data towards identifying the emerging themes. It is found that the built environment plays a role in defining the conditions for people to live healthy lives. This is because older people require high-quality built environment that suit their needs across the whole life course in the form of a building stock and infrastructure that support independent living and enhance their quality of life. The outcome of this report can be used as the foundation to further develop a comprehensive guideline on standards of living for senior citizens in Malaysia through the provision of better support services and facilities, as well as the creating age-friendly, safe and sustainable environment.

Keywords: Ageing in place, housing, landed property