| Participant . | Illustrative quote . |
|---|---|
| Theme A. Existing experiences of “age-friendly”: built design vs identity | |
| Resident 1 | “Age friendly” … Well, I guess I think of [ … ] states I live in that have programs and opportunities for people who are older. And I look at [this state], they have been good to seniors. Certainly, living at [this retirement and assisted living community] is a good place for seniors. It’s built for us. So that would be my answer. |
| Resident 2 | “Age friendly” … Well I think age friendly is just fine as long as it’s defined. A lot of times that type of a statement can morph into something different. Like, instead of 81, it morphs into 55 to 81 because that’s just what happens. “Age friendly”—I don’t like that. [ … ] With my limited knowledge about the demographics of a place like this, there are people my age. A lot of them have had strokes and other things that put them here. |
| Resident 3 | To me [“age-friendly”] means having accessible living, [not] where there are steps or those types of things—having adequate space for implements [assistive devices]. |
| Resident 4 | “Age-friendly,” to me, would mean a community which stays with or deals with people who use walkers or wheelchairs, or people who have some disability or handicap. For me, personally, age-friendly means knowledge [ … ] If I’m ignorant to who you are and what you are, I’m not going to pay much attention to what you’re telling me. If I ask you a question about—“Tell me about yourself and tell me about X,” I’m then more open to understand you as a person. I think that’s gone by the wayside. People go on what they see, face value [Black person], that’s it; that doesn’t mean anything. [ … ] if you look around this building, there’s not very many African Americans, so on face value, what people thought—because I had people say it to me—is that I was uneducated and on welfare my whole life. Until you ask me, or until you get to know me, that’s not true. |
| Theme B. Resident-to-resident microaggressions | |
| Subtheme B1. Identity-related microaggressions | |
| Resident 1 | Maybe I come on with a smile, you know, and say “good morning.” I don’t know. I think I do. Maybe they respond. [ … ] I expect them to be nice, and they expect me to be nice, and we have a good time. |
| Resident 2 | I go to a thousand [medical] appointments. I go to so many appointments. [ … ] It’s awful because they’ll say stuff, “there’s nothing wrong with you. What are you doing here? Why don’t you get a job?” And things like that. “Now I’m thinking of jobs that you could do.” And things like that. It’s terrible. It’s terrible! |
| Resident 3 | People want me to do stuff right away. And sometimes you have to figure out where am I in relation to where I’m going or what I’m looking for, whatever. And they just can’t give you half a second to adjust to what you’re trying to do. [ … ] Yesterday I walked over to the office and this gentleman who knows me was saying, “Now, it’s right, straight ahead. Keep going straight. You’re doing fine. You’re doing a great job.” I don’t need to be—have that patronizing attitude either. [ … ] he’s been around me enough to know that I generally get around fairly well. When I need help I will ask for it. [ … ] It’s just very frustrating. |
| Resident 4 | One person in particular, he referred to “nothing but educated people are here.” I said, “How do you know I’m not educated?” He had nothing to say. |
| Subtheme B2. Intergenerational microaggressions | |
| Resident 1 | I love it. I appreciate them [younger residents]. I like them all. And they’re good to meet, too. They are smiley and helpful, and we laugh together. So, I’m glad. I am so pleased. |
| Resident 2 | That’s what people do here. They [older residents] don’t have enough to do. Now they have to feel better about somebody because probably in their last life, they felt they did really well and they felt good about themselves. Now they have to find a way to do it. So they have to find a way to pick at people and that’s really a problem here. Really a problem. |
| Resident 3 | People who are older haven’t had the contact with people with disabilities. Because when they went to school, you never saw anybody in a wheelchair or people using white—maybe a white cane, but I mean not to the extent that people are out and about today. |
| Resident 4 | I understand that some of them [young adults] have illnesses which bring them here [ … ], but the ones who have the kids, I don’t understand why they’re here, I don’t; that doesn’t make sense to me because you have all this different generations. [ … ] they’ve got to be bored. [ … ] that’s just got to be the most boring thing in the world because we just don’t get around like we used to. [ … ] A bunch of old biddies, sitting around a table, playing bingo. It just boggles my mind, the contrast of such as it is. |
| Subtheme B3. Condition-related microaggressions | |
| Resident 1 | Every person you’ve talked to is different. Absolutely different. And we have our own problems. And we have to face them as individuals. Nobody can do it for me. So, I will do it, and have fun doing it. [Laughs] I can take pride. I figure that there are people much younger than I who cannot do what I do. And I can take pride in the fact that I’m still able. You know, it’s a real blessing to be able to take care of and make my own decisions. I like that. |
| Resident 2 | There’s a guy here and [ … ] he’s had a couple strokes [ … ]. They were silent strokes. And someone was talking about him and saying something mean, and just assuming people knew, I said, “well, you know, you recover from a stroke, and everybody’s different.” I was kind of covering for him. And they said, “he hasn’t had a stroke. He doesn’t have any paralysis.” And I’m like, oh, my God. [ … ] I was on the stroke committee at [Hospital], and I followed every stroke patient from the time the call was made until they went to their bed or to the grave. And I also did all the medical imaging for those and went to OR for a lot of different tumors and stuff like that. To be able to talk about that. |
| Resident 3 | That’s [cognitive challenges] a great part of it, I think. They just don’t remember. I mean you can tell them so many times and they just—it doesn’t connect. |
| Resident 4 | They have young girls coming here to wait to have their babies [ … ] We’re at an age where we don’t want to hear yelling, screaming kids anymore. [ … ] Don’t get me wrong, we like to see the babies, and then they’ll go away. But if you’re next door to someone who has a small child who is crying in the middle of the night, that is not pleasant. I just don’t understand the correlation of how that works. |
| If you’re an able-bodied older person it’s very elderly-friendly. If you are not, you got obstacles. | |
| Subtheme B4. The influence of microaggressions on social isolation | |
| Resident 1 | Life is precious. Really precious. And it’s so important to live it yourself. [ … ] when my husband passed away, I had people calling to ask me to do this, and to do that, to join this committee [ … ] I volunteered. Whenever I was in town, I went with senior groups, day trips all over [the state], [another state], three day trips. Yeah, at that time, we could—you don’t see them offered much anymore because of the cost. [ … ] I don’t need a big apartment. I can live in the cheapest. [ … ] I like the building. I like my neighbors. [ … ] my hobby of painting has taken over that corner [in the living room]. And in the bedroom I have a whole bunch more books and stuff. So yeah, I’m living. I’m living a good life. |
| Resident 2 | What I know in life and what I’ve done in life seems to be very different than the majority of the people here. It’s hard. [ … ] What can I talk about? OK, there’s those people who can talk about it because they were social workers. Then there’s the interior design people and they had wonderful careers and they can talk about it and we can all understand it. But I am a “know-it-all.” [ … ] It really is painful. |
| Resident 3 | I always thought it would be interesting to have some type of sessions where people can talk about their own disabilities and explain them to people. You know, say one session focused on people who are blind and what their needs are, and then someone in a wheelchair or with Parkinson’s or something like that. [ … ] I mentioned it a while ago, that it would be nice if there were some education. |
| Resident 4 | The longer I’ve been here it’s like—I’ve always been from, “You have to prove who you are. You have to prove what you know.” [ … ] you have to be the best because people don’t think you’re at that level. Anything you do—and it’s been this way my whole life—I had to be better than whoever. It’s like it just hasn’t changed now that I’ve gotten older. [ … ] I’m at an age where I don’t want to fight that I went to college. I just want me to tell you I have, and you believe that. |
| Theme C. Desired experience of the setting as “age-friendly” | |
| Resident 1 | Attitude is really the only thing I can change. I can’t change my health, if I am bad [sick]. I can’t change how old I am. I can’t change my apartment, because I have no energy to do it. But I can change my attitude. I can be grateful. I can be happy. I can decide. [ … ] Nobody can do it for me. So, I will do it, and have fun doing it! |
| Resident 2 | “Disability friendly” or “all-age friendly”—I think that those would not be clinically appropriate here. [ … ] people are trying to get away from those kinds of labels. “Individual Friendly” [ … ] That’s what the goal is, isn’t it? To try to respond to the needs of all the individuals. [ … ] because that’s what it’s going to be. [ … ] I would be more apt to say—ugh. [ … ] try to respond to the needs of all the individuals. |
| Resident 3 | I think the biggest thing is to learn to respect the person as an individual, that they’re an individual first and then they have a disability or a limitation. It is important that we all treat each other with respect. |
| Resident 4 | At this age, we’re in places like this to blend together and learn stuff about each other and be a peaceful community, and I don’t see that always happening. |
| We live in a whole different culture. I see less respect for elders. I don’t think that every place is senior-friendly. [ … ] I just don’t see a lot of respect. [ … ] they just kind of toss us aside. That’s why there’s places like this; they just kind of … “That old person doesn’t know what they’re talking about, so we’ll throw them in an institution.” [ … ] I’m definitely under the impression that if you listen to the stories from your seniors, you’ll get a whole different other view. [ … ] these people have a lot of knowledge [ … ] which we need to know. | |
| Participant . | Illustrative quote . |
|---|---|
| Theme A. Existing experiences of “age-friendly”: built design vs identity | |
| Resident 1 | “Age friendly” … Well, I guess I think of [ … ] states I live in that have programs and opportunities for people who are older. And I look at [this state], they have been good to seniors. Certainly, living at [this retirement and assisted living community] is a good place for seniors. It’s built for us. So that would be my answer. |
| Resident 2 | “Age friendly” … Well I think age friendly is just fine as long as it’s defined. A lot of times that type of a statement can morph into something different. Like, instead of 81, it morphs into 55 to 81 because that’s just what happens. “Age friendly”—I don’t like that. [ … ] With my limited knowledge about the demographics of a place like this, there are people my age. A lot of them have had strokes and other things that put them here. |
| Resident 3 | To me [“age-friendly”] means having accessible living, [not] where there are steps or those types of things—having adequate space for implements [assistive devices]. |
| Resident 4 | “Age-friendly,” to me, would mean a community which stays with or deals with people who use walkers or wheelchairs, or people who have some disability or handicap. For me, personally, age-friendly means knowledge [ … ] If I’m ignorant to who you are and what you are, I’m not going to pay much attention to what you’re telling me. If I ask you a question about—“Tell me about yourself and tell me about X,” I’m then more open to understand you as a person. I think that’s gone by the wayside. People go on what they see, face value [Black person], that’s it; that doesn’t mean anything. [ … ] if you look around this building, there’s not very many African Americans, so on face value, what people thought—because I had people say it to me—is that I was uneducated and on welfare my whole life. Until you ask me, or until you get to know me, that’s not true. |
| Theme B. Resident-to-resident microaggressions | |
| Subtheme B1. Identity-related microaggressions | |
| Resident 1 | Maybe I come on with a smile, you know, and say “good morning.” I don’t know. I think I do. Maybe they respond. [ … ] I expect them to be nice, and they expect me to be nice, and we have a good time. |
| Resident 2 | I go to a thousand [medical] appointments. I go to so many appointments. [ … ] It’s awful because they’ll say stuff, “there’s nothing wrong with you. What are you doing here? Why don’t you get a job?” And things like that. “Now I’m thinking of jobs that you could do.” And things like that. It’s terrible. It’s terrible! |
| Resident 3 | People want me to do stuff right away. And sometimes you have to figure out where am I in relation to where I’m going or what I’m looking for, whatever. And they just can’t give you half a second to adjust to what you’re trying to do. [ … ] Yesterday I walked over to the office and this gentleman who knows me was saying, “Now, it’s right, straight ahead. Keep going straight. You’re doing fine. You’re doing a great job.” I don’t need to be—have that patronizing attitude either. [ … ] he’s been around me enough to know that I generally get around fairly well. When I need help I will ask for it. [ … ] It’s just very frustrating. |
| Resident 4 | One person in particular, he referred to “nothing but educated people are here.” I said, “How do you know I’m not educated?” He had nothing to say. |
| Subtheme B2. Intergenerational microaggressions | |
| Resident 1 | I love it. I appreciate them [younger residents]. I like them all. And they’re good to meet, too. They are smiley and helpful, and we laugh together. So, I’m glad. I am so pleased. |
| Resident 2 | That’s what people do here. They [older residents] don’t have enough to do. Now they have to feel better about somebody because probably in their last life, they felt they did really well and they felt good about themselves. Now they have to find a way to do it. So they have to find a way to pick at people and that’s really a problem here. Really a problem. |
| Resident 3 | People who are older haven’t had the contact with people with disabilities. Because when they went to school, you never saw anybody in a wheelchair or people using white—maybe a white cane, but I mean not to the extent that people are out and about today. |
| Resident 4 | I understand that some of them [young adults] have illnesses which bring them here [ … ], but the ones who have the kids, I don’t understand why they’re here, I don’t; that doesn’t make sense to me because you have all this different generations. [ … ] they’ve got to be bored. [ … ] that’s just got to be the most boring thing in the world because we just don’t get around like we used to. [ … ] A bunch of old biddies, sitting around a table, playing bingo. It just boggles my mind, the contrast of such as it is. |
| Subtheme B3. Condition-related microaggressions | |
| Resident 1 | Every person you’ve talked to is different. Absolutely different. And we have our own problems. And we have to face them as individuals. Nobody can do it for me. So, I will do it, and have fun doing it. [Laughs] I can take pride. I figure that there are people much younger than I who cannot do what I do. And I can take pride in the fact that I’m still able. You know, it’s a real blessing to be able to take care of and make my own decisions. I like that. |
| Resident 2 | There’s a guy here and [ … ] he’s had a couple strokes [ … ]. They were silent strokes. And someone was talking about him and saying something mean, and just assuming people knew, I said, “well, you know, you recover from a stroke, and everybody’s different.” I was kind of covering for him. And they said, “he hasn’t had a stroke. He doesn’t have any paralysis.” And I’m like, oh, my God. [ … ] I was on the stroke committee at [Hospital], and I followed every stroke patient from the time the call was made until they went to their bed or to the grave. And I also did all the medical imaging for those and went to OR for a lot of different tumors and stuff like that. To be able to talk about that. |
| Resident 3 | That’s [cognitive challenges] a great part of it, I think. They just don’t remember. I mean you can tell them so many times and they just—it doesn’t connect. |
| Resident 4 | They have young girls coming here to wait to have their babies [ … ] We’re at an age where we don’t want to hear yelling, screaming kids anymore. [ … ] Don’t get me wrong, we like to see the babies, and then they’ll go away. But if you’re next door to someone who has a small child who is crying in the middle of the night, that is not pleasant. I just don’t understand the correlation of how that works. |
| If you’re an able-bodied older person it’s very elderly-friendly. If you are not, you got obstacles. | |
| Subtheme B4. The influence of microaggressions on social isolation | |
| Resident 1 | Life is precious. Really precious. And it’s so important to live it yourself. [ … ] when my husband passed away, I had people calling to ask me to do this, and to do that, to join this committee [ … ] I volunteered. Whenever I was in town, I went with senior groups, day trips all over [the state], [another state], three day trips. Yeah, at that time, we could—you don’t see them offered much anymore because of the cost. [ … ] I don’t need a big apartment. I can live in the cheapest. [ … ] I like the building. I like my neighbors. [ … ] my hobby of painting has taken over that corner [in the living room]. And in the bedroom I have a whole bunch more books and stuff. So yeah, I’m living. I’m living a good life. |
| Resident 2 | What I know in life and what I’ve done in life seems to be very different than the majority of the people here. It’s hard. [ … ] What can I talk about? OK, there’s those people who can talk about it because they were social workers. Then there’s the interior design people and they had wonderful careers and they can talk about it and we can all understand it. But I am a “know-it-all.” [ … ] It really is painful. |
| Resident 3 | I always thought it would be interesting to have some type of sessions where people can talk about their own disabilities and explain them to people. You know, say one session focused on people who are blind and what their needs are, and then someone in a wheelchair or with Parkinson’s or something like that. [ … ] I mentioned it a while ago, that it would be nice if there were some education. |
| Resident 4 | The longer I’ve been here it’s like—I’ve always been from, “You have to prove who you are. You have to prove what you know.” [ … ] you have to be the best because people don’t think you’re at that level. Anything you do—and it’s been this way my whole life—I had to be better than whoever. It’s like it just hasn’t changed now that I’ve gotten older. [ … ] I’m at an age where I don’t want to fight that I went to college. I just want me to tell you I have, and you believe that. |
| Theme C. Desired experience of the setting as “age-friendly” | |
| Resident 1 | Attitude is really the only thing I can change. I can’t change my health, if I am bad [sick]. I can’t change how old I am. I can’t change my apartment, because I have no energy to do it. But I can change my attitude. I can be grateful. I can be happy. I can decide. [ … ] Nobody can do it for me. So, I will do it, and have fun doing it! |
| Resident 2 | “Disability friendly” or “all-age friendly”—I think that those would not be clinically appropriate here. [ … ] people are trying to get away from those kinds of labels. “Individual Friendly” [ … ] That’s what the goal is, isn’t it? To try to respond to the needs of all the individuals. [ … ] because that’s what it’s going to be. [ … ] I would be more apt to say—ugh. [ … ] try to respond to the needs of all the individuals. |
| Resident 3 | I think the biggest thing is to learn to respect the person as an individual, that they’re an individual first and then they have a disability or a limitation. It is important that we all treat each other with respect. |
| Resident 4 | At this age, we’re in places like this to blend together and learn stuff about each other and be a peaceful community, and I don’t see that always happening. |
| We live in a whole different culture. I see less respect for elders. I don’t think that every place is senior-friendly. [ … ] I just don’t see a lot of respect. [ … ] they just kind of toss us aside. That’s why there’s places like this; they just kind of … “That old person doesn’t know what they’re talking about, so we’ll throw them in an institution.” [ … ] I’m definitely under the impression that if you listen to the stories from your seniors, you’ll get a whole different other view. [ … ] these people have a lot of knowledge [ … ] which we need to know. | |
| Participant . | Illustrative quote . |
|---|---|
| Theme A. Existing experiences of “age-friendly”: built design vs identity | |
| Resident 1 | “Age friendly” … Well, I guess I think of [ … ] states I live in that have programs and opportunities for people who are older. And I look at [this state], they have been good to seniors. Certainly, living at [this retirement and assisted living community] is a good place for seniors. It’s built for us. So that would be my answer. |
| Resident 2 | “Age friendly” … Well I think age friendly is just fine as long as it’s defined. A lot of times that type of a statement can morph into something different. Like, instead of 81, it morphs into 55 to 81 because that’s just what happens. “Age friendly”—I don’t like that. [ … ] With my limited knowledge about the demographics of a place like this, there are people my age. A lot of them have had strokes and other things that put them here. |
| Resident 3 | To me [“age-friendly”] means having accessible living, [not] where there are steps or those types of things—having adequate space for implements [assistive devices]. |
| Resident 4 | “Age-friendly,” to me, would mean a community which stays with or deals with people who use walkers or wheelchairs, or people who have some disability or handicap. For me, personally, age-friendly means knowledge [ … ] If I’m ignorant to who you are and what you are, I’m not going to pay much attention to what you’re telling me. If I ask you a question about—“Tell me about yourself and tell me about X,” I’m then more open to understand you as a person. I think that’s gone by the wayside. People go on what they see, face value [Black person], that’s it; that doesn’t mean anything. [ … ] if you look around this building, there’s not very many African Americans, so on face value, what people thought—because I had people say it to me—is that I was uneducated and on welfare my whole life. Until you ask me, or until you get to know me, that’s not true. |
| Theme B. Resident-to-resident microaggressions | |
| Subtheme B1. Identity-related microaggressions | |
| Resident 1 | Maybe I come on with a smile, you know, and say “good morning.” I don’t know. I think I do. Maybe they respond. [ … ] I expect them to be nice, and they expect me to be nice, and we have a good time. |
| Resident 2 | I go to a thousand [medical] appointments. I go to so many appointments. [ … ] It’s awful because they’ll say stuff, “there’s nothing wrong with you. What are you doing here? Why don’t you get a job?” And things like that. “Now I’m thinking of jobs that you could do.” And things like that. It’s terrible. It’s terrible! |
| Resident 3 | People want me to do stuff right away. And sometimes you have to figure out where am I in relation to where I’m going or what I’m looking for, whatever. And they just can’t give you half a second to adjust to what you’re trying to do. [ … ] Yesterday I walked over to the office and this gentleman who knows me was saying, “Now, it’s right, straight ahead. Keep going straight. You’re doing fine. You’re doing a great job.” I don’t need to be—have that patronizing attitude either. [ … ] he’s been around me enough to know that I generally get around fairly well. When I need help I will ask for it. [ … ] It’s just very frustrating. |
| Resident 4 | One person in particular, he referred to “nothing but educated people are here.” I said, “How do you know I’m not educated?” He had nothing to say. |
| Subtheme B2. Intergenerational microaggressions | |
| Resident 1 | I love it. I appreciate them [younger residents]. I like them all. And they’re good to meet, too. They are smiley and helpful, and we laugh together. So, I’m glad. I am so pleased. |
| Resident 2 | That’s what people do here. They [older residents] don’t have enough to do. Now they have to feel better about somebody because probably in their last life, they felt they did really well and they felt good about themselves. Now they have to find a way to do it. So they have to find a way to pick at people and that’s really a problem here. Really a problem. |
| Resident 3 | People who are older haven’t had the contact with people with disabilities. Because when they went to school, you never saw anybody in a wheelchair or people using white—maybe a white cane, but I mean not to the extent that people are out and about today. |
| Resident 4 | I understand that some of them [young adults] have illnesses which bring them here [ … ], but the ones who have the kids, I don’t understand why they’re here, I don’t; that doesn’t make sense to me because you have all this different generations. [ … ] they’ve got to be bored. [ … ] that’s just got to be the most boring thing in the world because we just don’t get around like we used to. [ … ] A bunch of old biddies, sitting around a table, playing bingo. It just boggles my mind, the contrast of such as it is. |
| Subtheme B3. Condition-related microaggressions | |
| Resident 1 | Every person you’ve talked to is different. Absolutely different. And we have our own problems. And we have to face them as individuals. Nobody can do it for me. So, I will do it, and have fun doing it. [Laughs] I can take pride. I figure that there are people much younger than I who cannot do what I do. And I can take pride in the fact that I’m still able. You know, it’s a real blessing to be able to take care of and make my own decisions. I like that. |
| Resident 2 | There’s a guy here and [ … ] he’s had a couple strokes [ … ]. They were silent strokes. And someone was talking about him and saying something mean, and just assuming people knew, I said, “well, you know, you recover from a stroke, and everybody’s different.” I was kind of covering for him. And they said, “he hasn’t had a stroke. He doesn’t have any paralysis.” And I’m like, oh, my God. [ … ] I was on the stroke committee at [Hospital], and I followed every stroke patient from the time the call was made until they went to their bed or to the grave. And I also did all the medical imaging for those and went to OR for a lot of different tumors and stuff like that. To be able to talk about that. |
| Resident 3 | That’s [cognitive challenges] a great part of it, I think. They just don’t remember. I mean you can tell them so many times and they just—it doesn’t connect. |
| Resident 4 | They have young girls coming here to wait to have their babies [ … ] We’re at an age where we don’t want to hear yelling, screaming kids anymore. [ … ] Don’t get me wrong, we like to see the babies, and then they’ll go away. But if you’re next door to someone who has a small child who is crying in the middle of the night, that is not pleasant. I just don’t understand the correlation of how that works. |
| If you’re an able-bodied older person it’s very elderly-friendly. If you are not, you got obstacles. | |
| Subtheme B4. The influence of microaggressions on social isolation | |
| Resident 1 | Life is precious. Really precious. And it’s so important to live it yourself. [ … ] when my husband passed away, I had people calling to ask me to do this, and to do that, to join this committee [ … ] I volunteered. Whenever I was in town, I went with senior groups, day trips all over [the state], [another state], three day trips. Yeah, at that time, we could—you don’t see them offered much anymore because of the cost. [ … ] I don’t need a big apartment. I can live in the cheapest. [ … ] I like the building. I like my neighbors. [ … ] my hobby of painting has taken over that corner [in the living room]. And in the bedroom I have a whole bunch more books and stuff. So yeah, I’m living. I’m living a good life. |
| Resident 2 | What I know in life and what I’ve done in life seems to be very different than the majority of the people here. It’s hard. [ … ] What can I talk about? OK, there’s those people who can talk about it because they were social workers. Then there’s the interior design people and they had wonderful careers and they can talk about it and we can all understand it. But I am a “know-it-all.” [ … ] It really is painful. |
| Resident 3 | I always thought it would be interesting to have some type of sessions where people can talk about their own disabilities and explain them to people. You know, say one session focused on people who are blind and what their needs are, and then someone in a wheelchair or with Parkinson’s or something like that. [ … ] I mentioned it a while ago, that it would be nice if there were some education. |
| Resident 4 | The longer I’ve been here it’s like—I’ve always been from, “You have to prove who you are. You have to prove what you know.” [ … ] you have to be the best because people don’t think you’re at that level. Anything you do—and it’s been this way my whole life—I had to be better than whoever. It’s like it just hasn’t changed now that I’ve gotten older. [ … ] I’m at an age where I don’t want to fight that I went to college. I just want me to tell you I have, and you believe that. |
| Theme C. Desired experience of the setting as “age-friendly” | |
| Resident 1 | Attitude is really the only thing I can change. I can’t change my health, if I am bad [sick]. I can’t change how old I am. I can’t change my apartment, because I have no energy to do it. But I can change my attitude. I can be grateful. I can be happy. I can decide. [ … ] Nobody can do it for me. So, I will do it, and have fun doing it! |
| Resident 2 | “Disability friendly” or “all-age friendly”—I think that those would not be clinically appropriate here. [ … ] people are trying to get away from those kinds of labels. “Individual Friendly” [ … ] That’s what the goal is, isn’t it? To try to respond to the needs of all the individuals. [ … ] because that’s what it’s going to be. [ … ] I would be more apt to say—ugh. [ … ] try to respond to the needs of all the individuals. |
| Resident 3 | I think the biggest thing is to learn to respect the person as an individual, that they’re an individual first and then they have a disability or a limitation. It is important that we all treat each other with respect. |
| Resident 4 | At this age, we’re in places like this to blend together and learn stuff about each other and be a peaceful community, and I don’t see that always happening. |
| We live in a whole different culture. I see less respect for elders. I don’t think that every place is senior-friendly. [ … ] I just don’t see a lot of respect. [ … ] they just kind of toss us aside. That’s why there’s places like this; they just kind of … “That old person doesn’t know what they’re talking about, so we’ll throw them in an institution.” [ … ] I’m definitely under the impression that if you listen to the stories from your seniors, you’ll get a whole different other view. [ … ] these people have a lot of knowledge [ … ] which we need to know. | |
| Participant . | Illustrative quote . |
|---|---|
| Theme A. Existing experiences of “age-friendly”: built design vs identity | |
| Resident 1 | “Age friendly” … Well, I guess I think of [ … ] states I live in that have programs and opportunities for people who are older. And I look at [this state], they have been good to seniors. Certainly, living at [this retirement and assisted living community] is a good place for seniors. It’s built for us. So that would be my answer. |
| Resident 2 | “Age friendly” … Well I think age friendly is just fine as long as it’s defined. A lot of times that type of a statement can morph into something different. Like, instead of 81, it morphs into 55 to 81 because that’s just what happens. “Age friendly”—I don’t like that. [ … ] With my limited knowledge about the demographics of a place like this, there are people my age. A lot of them have had strokes and other things that put them here. |
| Resident 3 | To me [“age-friendly”] means having accessible living, [not] where there are steps or those types of things—having adequate space for implements [assistive devices]. |
| Resident 4 | “Age-friendly,” to me, would mean a community which stays with or deals with people who use walkers or wheelchairs, or people who have some disability or handicap. For me, personally, age-friendly means knowledge [ … ] If I’m ignorant to who you are and what you are, I’m not going to pay much attention to what you’re telling me. If I ask you a question about—“Tell me about yourself and tell me about X,” I’m then more open to understand you as a person. I think that’s gone by the wayside. People go on what they see, face value [Black person], that’s it; that doesn’t mean anything. [ … ] if you look around this building, there’s not very many African Americans, so on face value, what people thought—because I had people say it to me—is that I was uneducated and on welfare my whole life. Until you ask me, or until you get to know me, that’s not true. |
| Theme B. Resident-to-resident microaggressions | |
| Subtheme B1. Identity-related microaggressions | |
| Resident 1 | Maybe I come on with a smile, you know, and say “good morning.” I don’t know. I think I do. Maybe they respond. [ … ] I expect them to be nice, and they expect me to be nice, and we have a good time. |
| Resident 2 | I go to a thousand [medical] appointments. I go to so many appointments. [ … ] It’s awful because they’ll say stuff, “there’s nothing wrong with you. What are you doing here? Why don’t you get a job?” And things like that. “Now I’m thinking of jobs that you could do.” And things like that. It’s terrible. It’s terrible! |
| Resident 3 | People want me to do stuff right away. And sometimes you have to figure out where am I in relation to where I’m going or what I’m looking for, whatever. And they just can’t give you half a second to adjust to what you’re trying to do. [ … ] Yesterday I walked over to the office and this gentleman who knows me was saying, “Now, it’s right, straight ahead. Keep going straight. You’re doing fine. You’re doing a great job.” I don’t need to be—have that patronizing attitude either. [ … ] he’s been around me enough to know that I generally get around fairly well. When I need help I will ask for it. [ … ] It’s just very frustrating. |
| Resident 4 | One person in particular, he referred to “nothing but educated people are here.” I said, “How do you know I’m not educated?” He had nothing to say. |
| Subtheme B2. Intergenerational microaggressions | |
| Resident 1 | I love it. I appreciate them [younger residents]. I like them all. And they’re good to meet, too. They are smiley and helpful, and we laugh together. So, I’m glad. I am so pleased. |
| Resident 2 | That’s what people do here. They [older residents] don’t have enough to do. Now they have to feel better about somebody because probably in their last life, they felt they did really well and they felt good about themselves. Now they have to find a way to do it. So they have to find a way to pick at people and that’s really a problem here. Really a problem. |
| Resident 3 | People who are older haven’t had the contact with people with disabilities. Because when they went to school, you never saw anybody in a wheelchair or people using white—maybe a white cane, but I mean not to the extent that people are out and about today. |
| Resident 4 | I understand that some of them [young adults] have illnesses which bring them here [ … ], but the ones who have the kids, I don’t understand why they’re here, I don’t; that doesn’t make sense to me because you have all this different generations. [ … ] they’ve got to be bored. [ … ] that’s just got to be the most boring thing in the world because we just don’t get around like we used to. [ … ] A bunch of old biddies, sitting around a table, playing bingo. It just boggles my mind, the contrast of such as it is. |
| Subtheme B3. Condition-related microaggressions | |
| Resident 1 | Every person you’ve talked to is different. Absolutely different. And we have our own problems. And we have to face them as individuals. Nobody can do it for me. So, I will do it, and have fun doing it. [Laughs] I can take pride. I figure that there are people much younger than I who cannot do what I do. And I can take pride in the fact that I’m still able. You know, it’s a real blessing to be able to take care of and make my own decisions. I like that. |
| Resident 2 | There’s a guy here and [ … ] he’s had a couple strokes [ … ]. They were silent strokes. And someone was talking about him and saying something mean, and just assuming people knew, I said, “well, you know, you recover from a stroke, and everybody’s different.” I was kind of covering for him. And they said, “he hasn’t had a stroke. He doesn’t have any paralysis.” And I’m like, oh, my God. [ … ] I was on the stroke committee at [Hospital], and I followed every stroke patient from the time the call was made until they went to their bed or to the grave. And I also did all the medical imaging for those and went to OR for a lot of different tumors and stuff like that. To be able to talk about that. |
| Resident 3 | That’s [cognitive challenges] a great part of it, I think. They just don’t remember. I mean you can tell them so many times and they just—it doesn’t connect. |
| Resident 4 | They have young girls coming here to wait to have their babies [ … ] We’re at an age where we don’t want to hear yelling, screaming kids anymore. [ … ] Don’t get me wrong, we like to see the babies, and then they’ll go away. But if you’re next door to someone who has a small child who is crying in the middle of the night, that is not pleasant. I just don’t understand the correlation of how that works. |
| If you’re an able-bodied older person it’s very elderly-friendly. If you are not, you got obstacles. | |
| Subtheme B4. The influence of microaggressions on social isolation | |
| Resident 1 | Life is precious. Really precious. And it’s so important to live it yourself. [ … ] when my husband passed away, I had people calling to ask me to do this, and to do that, to join this committee [ … ] I volunteered. Whenever I was in town, I went with senior groups, day trips all over [the state], [another state], three day trips. Yeah, at that time, we could—you don’t see them offered much anymore because of the cost. [ … ] I don’t need a big apartment. I can live in the cheapest. [ … ] I like the building. I like my neighbors. [ … ] my hobby of painting has taken over that corner [in the living room]. And in the bedroom I have a whole bunch more books and stuff. So yeah, I’m living. I’m living a good life. |
| Resident 2 | What I know in life and what I’ve done in life seems to be very different than the majority of the people here. It’s hard. [ … ] What can I talk about? OK, there’s those people who can talk about it because they were social workers. Then there’s the interior design people and they had wonderful careers and they can talk about it and we can all understand it. But I am a “know-it-all.” [ … ] It really is painful. |
| Resident 3 | I always thought it would be interesting to have some type of sessions where people can talk about their own disabilities and explain them to people. You know, say one session focused on people who are blind and what their needs are, and then someone in a wheelchair or with Parkinson’s or something like that. [ … ] I mentioned it a while ago, that it would be nice if there were some education. |
| Resident 4 | The longer I’ve been here it’s like—I’ve always been from, “You have to prove who you are. You have to prove what you know.” [ … ] you have to be the best because people don’t think you’re at that level. Anything you do—and it’s been this way my whole life—I had to be better than whoever. It’s like it just hasn’t changed now that I’ve gotten older. [ … ] I’m at an age where I don’t want to fight that I went to college. I just want me to tell you I have, and you believe that. |
| Theme C. Desired experience of the setting as “age-friendly” | |
| Resident 1 | Attitude is really the only thing I can change. I can’t change my health, if I am bad [sick]. I can’t change how old I am. I can’t change my apartment, because I have no energy to do it. But I can change my attitude. I can be grateful. I can be happy. I can decide. [ … ] Nobody can do it for me. So, I will do it, and have fun doing it! |
| Resident 2 | “Disability friendly” or “all-age friendly”—I think that those would not be clinically appropriate here. [ … ] people are trying to get away from those kinds of labels. “Individual Friendly” [ … ] That’s what the goal is, isn’t it? To try to respond to the needs of all the individuals. [ … ] because that’s what it’s going to be. [ … ] I would be more apt to say—ugh. [ … ] try to respond to the needs of all the individuals. |
| Resident 3 | I think the biggest thing is to learn to respect the person as an individual, that they’re an individual first and then they have a disability or a limitation. It is important that we all treat each other with respect. |
| Resident 4 | At this age, we’re in places like this to blend together and learn stuff about each other and be a peaceful community, and I don’t see that always happening. |
| We live in a whole different culture. I see less respect for elders. I don’t think that every place is senior-friendly. [ … ] I just don’t see a lot of respect. [ … ] they just kind of toss us aside. That’s why there’s places like this; they just kind of … “That old person doesn’t know what they’re talking about, so we’ll throw them in an institution.” [ … ] I’m definitely under the impression that if you listen to the stories from your seniors, you’ll get a whole different other view. [ … ] these people have a lot of knowledge [ … ] which we need to know. | |
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