Architects, environmental designers, occupational therapists, and human service professionals are variously engaged in efforts to create settings for older persons that better fit their changing lifestyles and abilities. This theoretical article argues that to explain and predict more effectively the appropriateness of the settings occupied and used by their older occupants requires models and empirical inquiries that better conceptualize two areas of inquiry: (a) the temporal properties of environments and individuals and (b) the conceptualization of environmental behaviors or activities describing how individuals use, manipulate, or perform tasks in their settings. The types of constructs and relationships necessary for this inquiry are reviewed and their practical applications considered.

This commentary argues that one-size-fits-all aging in place solutions will often not be in the best interests of low-income and frail older homeowners in the United States. This contrarian view runs counter to the reported preferences of this group, various private-sector activities, and U.S. public policies that are increasingly funding home and community-based care. The particular focus is on low-income elderly homeowners living in the oldest housing stock in the country who have demographic characteristics putting them at greater risk of having both unmet care and housing needs, which in turn have spillover effects on their neighborhoods. These vulnerable homeowners would be better served if they relocated to more affordable, easier to maintain, and better designed smaller owned units or rental properties or to planned affordable seniors' rental housing complexes that can offer both light and heavy care. Such residential moves are often not feasible, however, because of the shortage of these housing arrangements.

An earlier theoretical model equated the construct of residential normalcy with older persons positively appraising their residential environments. Failing to achieve congruent places to live, they initiate assimilative (action) or accommodative (mind) coping strategies. This paper theorizes that the assimilative coping strategies of older persons depend on their secondary appraisal processes whereby they judge the availability, efficaciousness, and viability of their coping options. Older persons with more enriched coping repertoires are theorized as more resilient, making their own decisions, and with access to more resource-rich objectively defined resilient environments. Successful aging formulations infrequently examine how residential environmental adaptations of people influence the quality of their lives. Programmatically, the theory emphasizes the potential of individual and environmental interventions targeting older persons who are not aging successfully.

Objectives. The assisted living facility (ALF) is the fastest-growing noninstitutional long-term care alternative for frail older persons in the United States. This analysis assesses the extent to which older persons with physical and cognitive disabilities and health care needs occupy ALFs in the United States. Methods. Information on study design and six indicators of the occupancy patterns of older persons in ALFs were abstracted from six national studies. The collected data were based on reports by the administrators of ALFs. Results. The six reviewed studies had several methodologic weaknesses, resulting in different statistical populations of ALFs, samples with very different numerical and attribute properties, and findings based on disparate indicators. The older residents in ALFs were less physically and cognitively impaired than those in nursing homes. ALF facilities were more likely to admit or retain frail older persons when they had relatively minor or less serious physical or cognitive impairment or health care needs. Discussion. ALFs are currently serving older residents who require less nursing care and who are less functionally and cognitively impaired than those found in nursing homes. The more restrictive admitting and discharge criteria of a substantial share of ALFs guarantee their less frail occupant profile. This is, however, an extraordinarily diverse shelter and care alternative, and very frail older persons with serious chronic health problems can be found in ALFs. Average duration of stays may be as long as 3 years. Researchers must conduct more carefully executed studies with replicable methodologies that produce unbiased and generalized findings.