Residential Environment and Health Conditions among Older-Adults in Community-Dwelling in Spain: What Influences Quality of Life?

The residential environment is considered the geographical space to which the population, especially older people, is most closely attached and where their daily life unfolds. Together with this, other personal and health and functioning conditions show their effect on satisfaction with life, as an indicator of quality of life in old age. In this context, the aim of this chapter was to understand the interrelationships of these quality of life variables and which of them are predictors of satisfaction with life in the older adult population living in family homes in Spain.The survey “Quality of life in older adults-Spain” (CadeViMa-Spain), conducted in 2008 among a representative sample of the population aged 60 or over (N=1,106 individuals), was used as the data source. The results showed a high level of satisfaction with life (69 out of 100), with 30 % of its variance explained by a linear regression model, according to which overall life satisfaction is higher the larger the status of the household and satisfaction with living arrangements, the better one's health and the individual's perception of this, the lower the level of morbidity and depression and the higher the rating of the residential environment (in its three elements of housing, neighbourhood and neighbours). These results are of interest for the design and implementation of public policies concerning the adaptation of the residential environment to the circumstances and perceptions of its elderly residents, who live and want to age at home, in the environment where they have always lived with autonomy and independence.