Aging society in Wroclaw's prefabricated housing estates

Barbara E. Gronostajska

Andrzej M. Wielgus

pp. 262-271

in: Margherita Antona, Constantine Stephanidis (eds), Universal access in human-computer interaction. methods, techniques, and best practices, Berlin, Springer, 2016

Abstract

The paper presents following researches: study the social transformations in selected prefabricated housing estates related to the aging of the society (age structure, family status, physical fitness), conduct social research on the elderly in selected prefabricated housing estates (household structure, family status, physical fitness, assessment of physical activities, leisure activities).The studies conducted in one large prefabricated housing estates in Wrocław – Szczepin to meet the needs of aging society.In the 1970s and 1980s the prefabricated housing estates were in the first social cycle. They were inhabited by young people, most often families with small children. Once they became adults, the children moved out, leaving their aging parents in these dwellings. Therefore, today, these estates are mostly inhabited by the elderly, who are often lonely. This is the second social cycle of these estates. As a result new problems emerged related to the needs of this particular group of tenants/inhabitants, which had not been taken into consideration when these housing estates were being designed.