Multidimensional Civic Engagement of Older Adults and the Physical Environment

Activity: Talk or presentationTalk or presentation at a conference

Description

This study advances our understanding of how the physical living environment shapes civic engagement. Literature acknowledges the role of the living environment in influencing older people’s civic engagement but has predominantly concentrated on individual or national-level variables, leaving out the mesolevel. Moreover, within current research on civic engagement in later life, a narrow division prevails, often excluding a plethora of possible civic activities. Consequently, this study refers to the multidimensional aspects of civic engagement, including political engagement, volunteering, informal helping behaviours, associational engagement, and digital engagement. Additionally, systems of time might shape the experiences of a living environment. While on the mesolevel, both the social and the physical environment can have an impact on the civic engagement of older people, recent longitudinal European datasets have mostly focused on collecting physical environment variables. Hence, a longitudinal multilevel analysis is conducted, drawing data from waves 3 and 4 of EQLS (European Quality of Life Survey) (EuropeanFoundation For The Improvement Of Living And Working Conditions, 2018), to examine the relationship between multidimensional civic engagement and the physical environment while also considering time in relation to an individual’s living environment in later life. This study makes use of SPSS 29 and asphysical environment variables, public service accessibility and neighbourhood quality are considered. Preliminary findings show that factors related to public service accessibility, such as access to banks, parks and cultural venues, are positively related to the multidimensional civic engagement of older people significant relation has been found between neighbourhood quality factors, such as problems with trash, noise and air quality, and the civic engagement of older people. However, problems having to do with traffic in the neighbourhood are positively related to civic engagement. As global demographics continue to shift, these insights are critical for mapping and appreciating the civic engagement of older people and they help to fight social exclusion at the individual and community level. Further research is vital to develop targeted strategies for fostering civic engagement across diverse populations.
Period17 Jul 2024
Event title16th International Conference of the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR)
Event typeConference
LocationAntwerp, Belgium
Degree of RecognitionInternational