对就地养老的反思——“人”与“地方”关系视角①

在有关养老的老年学和地理学研究中,“就地养老”是一个广泛使用的概念,并一直被认为是解决老龄人口养老需求的有效政策手段。迄今为止,关于就地养老的研究主要关注了很多能够让老年人健康就地(或在家)养老的物质方面的因素,比如住房条件或家庭照护。有些老年学研究者们认识到,就地养老受到居住环境中实体环境和社会、情感因素的共同影响。但我们认为,在养老体验研究中,要更加深入地审视“人”和“地方”之间的复杂关系。特别是,我们主张就地养老成功的因素是地方具有维持良好关系的潜力。提到“地方(place)”一词的时候,人们过分局限于关注老年人身体上接近的地理空间,或是具有实体边界的地方,例如房子或社区。而我们通过回顾现有文献发现,对许多选择就地养老的人来说,更具有意义的是随着时间的推移,他们在不同空间尺度上所建立起来的多元的、网络化的社会和非社会关系。基于这个新的视角,可以更好地理解老年人与地方的多层次的联系,以及从不同尺度和不同类型的人与地方的关系来考察就地养老的意义。

Rethinking ageing in place: the ‘people’ and ‘place’ nexus

‘Ageing in place’ is a well-established concept within gerontological and geographical literatures as well as continuing to be mobilised as a potentially effective policy mechanism for addressing the needs and choices of ageing populations. To date, ageing in place research has highlighted many factors that enable older adults to age well in the (home) place focusing on the physical dimensions of housing or the home as a site of care. Gerontological researchers also recognise that ageing in place, or community living, implies a two-way relationship between the physical contexts and the social and emotional places of ageing. However we argue for a subtle, yet crucial, inversion of the roles of people and place in the experiences of ageing. In particular we suggest that what makes ageing in place successful is the potential of place to support meaningful relationships. We suggest that too often the word ‘place’ constrains focus to those spaces that are geographically proximate to the ageing body or are physically bounded such as the house or neighbourhood. Instead, drawing on a review of current literature, we explore the idea that what is of greater consequence to many people who are ageing in place is the multiple, networked social and non-social relations they develop across different spatial scales and over time. This revised approach to ageing in place allows us to understand better older adults’ layered connectivity to place and well as the ability to differentiate the meaning of ageing in place by the scale and types of relationships.