Forget the family home, seniors prefer life in the village

18 November 2005

Residents in NSW retirement villages are happier with their living arrangements than they anticipated before taking up communal living, according to work by a UNSW academic.

Dr David Kennedy from the School of Organisation and Management, in the Faculty of Commerce and Economics, presented the findings to the Retirement Village Association (RVA) national conference in Sydney (16 November).

More than 93 percent of residents living in RVA-member villages in NSW reported that their expectations for retirement community living had been met or exceeded.

Compared to living in the family home, they generally felt safer (71 percent), happier (62 percent), and at least as satisfied or more satisfied than living in their previous residence (75 percent).

Ninety percent said they were likely or extremely likely to say good things about their village, and the same percentage said they were likely or extremely likely to stay in their retirement community as long as they could.

"While I've been aware of the benefits associated with retirement community living for some time, the strength of the findings did surprise me," said Dr Kennedy. "This is good news for seniors as well as the retirement community industry as a whole."

Three hundred and fifty-five residents between the ages of 54 and 96 in RVA-member villages responded to the survey. The survey was sponsored by BankWest, on behalf of the RVA of NSW and ACT.