Ageing in Place—The Key to Receiving a Superaged Society

Abstract

Ageing in place is the ability to remain in one’s community, where living conditions foster a sense of attachment that enhances holistic well-being. To facilitate this, both the built and social environments within which the home is nested must be conducive to successful ageing. This paper deconstructs the merits of ageing in place, specifically how attachment to the lived environment contributes to holistic well-being. We analysed data from 6020 participants in the Singapore Life Panel® using path models, where we examined three dimensions of ageing in place: place identity, continuity, and social inclusion. Five path analyses show that two dimensions of ageing in place mediated the relationship between well-being and factors such as social isolation, number of close neighbours, social support, and satisfaction with amenities, but not living arrangements. Social inclusion consistently showed no significant relationship with well-being across all models. These findings suggest that the quality of social connections, rather than physical living arrangements, is important for well-being, and that social inclusion needs to be more appropriately contextualised. Our study contributes to policy discussions on how supporting older adults to age in place can enhance their overall well-being.