To investigate the application of age-integrated co-housing to improve the quality of life of older people

For my Fellowship I investigated the application of Danish bofaelleskaber, or cohousing communities, for older people in Australia.

I undertook the study on behalf of a group of older women, living alone on the age pension, who wanted to know whether cohousing was an appropriate option for them. I interviewed residents in Denmark, the United States and Canada. I explored what motivated older people to live in cohousing, whether they were happy there and what problems and issues they had encountered.

I learned that many factors contribute to the creation of a well-functioning cohousing community. These include the following: 

• People make an informed choice
• There is a community development process
• Residents have input into the design
• Individual residents have control over privacy and personal space
• The design supports social interaction
• A majority of residents actively participate in the community
• Consensus-based decision-making leads to the best decisions for the whole community
• Communities have appropriate policies in place. 

In each of the three countries I visited, the type of cohousing community was influenced by differences in history, culture and government policy. In Denmark, where the communities are widespread, there had been strong government support since the 1980s.

I found that cohousing communities support ageing well for older residents, provided that frailty is not an issue (due to the need for participation).

However, cohousing communities are more expensive to build than individual homes. Without government support the model is only an option for people who can afford it. While a small number of government-subsidised cohousing communities exist in Australia, it did not appear to be a realistic option for the women who inspired my study.

I worked for 19 years as a housing policy analyst for the Tasmanian State Government, from 1995 to 2014. In 2011 I was awarded a PhD by the University of Tasmania, in which I explored the gap between government policy and the lived experiences of older women who live alone. I am now retired. I enjoy being a grandparent to my six grandchildren; I also enjoy gardening, learning the piano and doing handcrafts. 

Excerpt from “Bringing Knowledge Home” published by the Churchill Fellows Association of Tasmania (2016)