TRANSITIONS PROJECT
The goal of the ‘transitions’ project was to better understand the experience of moving to, and adjusting to life in a retirement community, to produce a framework for understanding those transitions so that we can develop practical ways to support people.
We combined findings from interviews with 25 residents living across 3 retirement communities in the UK, plus an overview of themes from worldwide research where residents have been asked about their experience of moving to a retirement community.
What did we find?
We found that there is a process that most people experience when they move to a retirement community. This process comprises of different but related transitions:
Transition 1: Deciding to move
Transition 2: Moving
Transition 3: Adjusting
Transition 4: Living in the community
At the heart of this process is how the person navigates these different transitions. Navigating change depends on a wide range of factors such as personal characteristics and personality, the amount of choice a person has had in these transitions, the support they have from friends and family, and the activities and support they receive from the retirement community they move into.
Using findings from our studies we have created our ‘transitions framework’ – see our project report below. This framework shows the transitions that people go through when they move to a retirement community. This framework considers the wide range of different factors that can influence how different people navigate these transitions, as well as what helps and what hinders them.
Below you will find copies of our project report and more information about the results from the interview study and review study.
PROJECT REPORT
listening to resident voices to understand and support the transition to retirement community living
