Living environments and social integration: Organizational characteristicsof residences for senior citizens and social life of the elderly

This study examines the links between four organizational features of priva te housing for older persons (service level, perception of environmental co ntrol-level, tolerance level of caregivers toward seniors and their input i n decision making) and the social integration of seniors. This last variabl e is assessed according to four indicators: presence or absence of meaningf ul relationships; satisfaction with social life, feeling of loneliness and number of contacts with neighbours. The results obtained by analysing the l ogistic or ordinal regression and the odd ratio associate two of the four o rganizational variables studied to most of the social integration indicator s irrespective of the subjects' vulnerability level, The two features are s ervice level and perception of environmental control level.