Examining the Disparities in Senior Center Built Environment

TL;DR

This study finds that senior centers in wealthier communities have better built environments, including safer and more well-maintained facilities.

Contribution

The study introduces a new assessment tool and provides empirical evidence of disparities in senior center environments linked to socioeconomic factors.

Findings

Senior centers in higher-income communities had better facility conditions and fewer safety issues.

Over half of the centers had designated rooms for meals, games, arts, and computer use.

Median household income was positively correlated with the quality of the built environment.

Abstract

Built environment has substantial influence on older adults’ health and wellbeing. Despite that, there is a scarcity of research on the built environment of senior centers, an important place for many older adults to socialize and engage in leisure activities. This study examined the disparities in the built environment of senior centers in 24 communities in the Greater Los Angeles Area. Each center was jointly assessed by 2–3 trained research assistants in 2023 using the Senior Center Assessment Tool (v1.0), covering the access, exterior, and interior of the center. Additionally, statistics about communities’ socioeconomic condition were retrieved from US Census Bureau database. On average, the study centers had 8.5 rooms (range: 1–19) with multi-purpose room being the most common type of room. Over half the centers had designated rooms/spaces for congregated meals, tabletop games and billiards, arts/craft, or computer use. The percentage of centers with an excellent overall condition of landscaping, exterior, and interior were 29%, 25%, and 35%, respectively. Results of bivariate correlations showed that community’s median household income had a positive relationship with overall condition of the interior (r=.42, p<.05), building exterior (r=.42, p<.05), and landscaping (r=.48, p<.05), percentage of rooms in excellent condition (r=.45, p<.05), and ADA compliance (r=.45, p<.05), and had a negative relationship with presence of safety issue(s) (r=-.57, p<.01). Substantive differences were found in the quality of built environment at senior centers across communities.