Jeanette A. Brandt

Impact of Space and Color in the Physical Environment on Preschool Children’s Cooperative Behavior:

Design elements within child care facilities are thought to have important effects on children’s behavior. Empirical studies that examine features of the physical environment, such as color, wall surfaces, and vertical space, and how they affect development are sparse. Using Gibson’s Ecological Theory of Visual Perception, this study investigated the impact that differentiated space, including changes in ceiling height and wall color, has on children’s cooperative behavior. Thirty preschool children experienced four different spatial conditions in small groups. Multivariate repeated-measures analyses of variance indicated that differentiation in ceiling height or wall color were related to higher levels of cooperative behavior among preschool children. As well, developmental level and gender were significant predictors of children’s cooperative behavior between spatial conditions. Findings from this study can benefit preschool administrators and designers concerned with developing children’s environments that encourage cooperative behavior in preschool children.

Influence of Income on Energy Beliefs and Behaviors of Urban Elderly

Although public attention toward residential energy costs has diminished in the past few years, meeting energy costs remains a concern for the elderly population. The impact of income on energy beliefs and behaviors of urban elderly indicate that lower income elderly may be adversely affected by residential energy costs. The results of this study indicate that urban elderly with lower incomes engage in more lifestyle cutbacks and curtailment behaviors than do those with higher incomes. This research emphasizes the need to investigate energy policies that target low income elderly.

Factors That Influence Pre-Retirees' Propensity to Move at Retirement

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relative contributions of factors influencing preference to move upon retirement. Preference to move led to the propensity to move. Years in community, tenure preference upon retirement, opinion of size of house for retirement and existence of plans on where to retire led to both preference to move and propensity to move: structure preference led to preference to move. Maintenance skills led to the lessening of the propensity to move, and house size and age of respondent had a direct relationship to preference to move.

Aging in Place: Pre-Retirees’ View of Environmental Adaptation in Maintaining Independence

AbstractAging in place means being able to live independently in one’s current residence. This study examined the views of the future elderly to determine whether they plan to take a proactive stance in adapting their environment to meet their aging needs. Housing needs, preferences, policies, standards, and designs (barrier free, universal, accessible, and adaptable) are reviewed. An age stratified random sample of pre-retirees from three states (N=1033) assessed the feasibility of modifying their home to accommodate a wheelchair. The majority of the respondents were male, married, and 52 years old, with median family income between

Effects of Conditions and Satisfactions

35,000 and

Housing for Disabled Persons: To What Extent Will Today's Homes Accommodate Persons with Physical Limitations?

49,999. Eighty-two percent of the respondents indicated a preference to retire in single family homes, and 92 percent were residing in same. Number of sources of retirement income and being married were identified in multiple regression analyses as related to feasibility of altering current housing to accommodate a wheelchair.

Nonmetropolitan Retirement Location: Preferred Community Characteristics

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to determine a causal relationship between constraints, conditions, satisfactions related to housing, and propensity to move at retirement using Morris and Winter’s Housing Adjustment Model. Data were analyzed for 1,175 preretirees in Oregon and Utah. Path analysis revealed that propensity to move was directly influenced (p<.05) by seven constraints -- age, level of education, gender, marital status, health status, location, and income sources after retirement -- and four intervening variables -- tenure, city condition, neighborhood satisfaction, and housing satisfaction. Suggesting a better understanding of retirement housing decisions could better equip communities as they facilitate to maximize the possibility of suitable, affordable, and supportive housing environments for the largest number of elderly people.

Housing Policy in the United States: A Contemporary Analysis

This article reviews the incidence of disability within the non-institutionalized U.S. resident population, with estimates of gender differences and severe limitations. Estimates of the desire for functional independence among the elderly are presented, and theoretical frameworks related to choice, consumer efficiency, consumer decisions, and housing norms are reviewed. Accommodation of a wheelchair was chosen as the measure to be studied because it is the means of mobility for those with the most severe mobility limitations. Three states, Oregon, Nevada, and Utah collected data on wheelchair accommodation of existing housing, resulting in a sample of 1,549 homeowners. Only 1% of the respondents indicated that their homes would accommodate a wheelchair at the present. However, 77% indicated that their homes could be modified to accommodate a wheelchair, and 22% responded that costs for modifications to their present homes would be prohibitive. Home economics educators have an obligation to educate the public to the needs for accessible and/or adaptable housing and unite architects, designers, home builders, and realtors in an effort to increase the proportion of wheelchair-accessible housing, to accommodate all types of mobility impairment regardless of age.

POST OCCUPANCY EVALUATION OF SOLAR HOUSING SATISFACTION AND THE RELATIONSHIP TO SOURCES OF INFORMATION USED

AbstractThe purpose was to study future retirees who had indicated a preference to live in nonmetropolitan communities during the first ten years of retirement. The four community size preferences ranged from a community of less than 2,500 people to a community of 20,000 to 49,999 people. The first objective was to determine if age and income influence the importance of community characteristics. The second objective was to determine if the importance respondents placed on selected community characteristics differed by the size of nonmetropolitan area preferred for retirement living. Data from an age-stratified random sample of preretirees in four states were analyzed (N = 702). Multiple regression results indicated that age had a significant (p <.05) influence on the importance of medical facilities, low cost of living, low utility rates, and recreational facilities; income had a significant (p <.05) influence on the importance of low cost of living, proximity to family, and recreational facilities. One-...

POST OCCUPANCY EVALUATION OF OVERHEATING IN SOLAR HOMES

AbstractHousing policy in the United States is reviewed in this paper. Limited to the 21st century, federal legislation has encouraged, funded, subsidized, provided access to, and restricted U.S. housing. During the past 50 years, a number of laws have been passed and policies implemented purely as experimental actions. Some policies were discontinued when they became too costly or failed to produce intended outcomes. In response, new policies enacted to illuminate deficiencies often introduced other flaws. This paper discusses legislation and its intended outcomes and comes to the conclusion that contemporary housing legislation has evolved largely from trial and error rather than research or a theoretical model.The American Association of Housing Educators (AAHE) has an opportunity to contribute to improved housing policy. During its 25-year history, AAHE has made only cursory and peripheral contributions to such policy. AAHE’s one important contribution made to the housing literature describes housing ...