Physical Home Environment
Shannon Trecartin (Social Work)
Examining the Factor Structure of the Latent Construct “Physical Home Environment” using the National Health and Aging Trends Study
The primary purpose of this project is to explore the physical home environment of older adults using the National Health and Aging Trends Study and to develop an initial measurement model of the construct. This study will identify the prevalence of physical home environment features in the homes older adults living in the community, explore the underlying factor structure of the physical home environment latent construct and determine which observed variables contained in the data set contribute to the measurement of the underlying construct.
Development of this construct is important because it will result in a clearer understanding of which variables are important for explaining the “physical home environment” among older adults living in the community in the United States and allow for placement of the construct within structural models in future studies.
This information is important to gerontologists and social workers because older adults spend more time in their homes than in any other setting and features of the home can have implications for well-being. Studies have linked features of the physical home environment to psychological well-being outcomes among older adults. However the conclusions about which features of the home are important are mixed. The proposed study will describe the factor structure of the physical home environment using a nationally representative sample of older adults.