How does the environment in and around the home impact social care and health outcomes for older people?

End of project summary

Main messages

We want to know if where people lived influenced whether they were more likely to fall or go to live in a care home. We used mapped data to understand how far people lived from green space, GP’s, chemists and how easy it was to move around their communities. We linked these data to deidentified health records to understand how often people fell in different areas, and whether some parts of the environment might promote healthier ageing. We also wanted to know how likely people were to move to a care home if they had different home environment characteristics to see if there are some neighbourhoods which allowed people to remain independent longer as they aged. We also explored how a dementia diagnosis impacted both the risk of falling and of moving to a care home. We found that: 

• Where people live does impact their risk of falling – sometimes it reduces the risk, sometimes it increases the risk. 

• Likewise, where people live does influence how long some people can remain independent. 

• Overall individual factors such as age and frailty are the most significant factors. 

• Health promoting environments which allow people to remain fit are likely to reduce the risk of falls and allow people to remain independent for longer.