Food-Related Activities among Older Indonesian Women:
Understanding Personal and Built Environmental Adaptation for Independence in Later Life

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Background. As people grow older, they experience declining capacity that disrupts their independence. Older adults' ability to maintain their independence in conducting various everyday activities is key to successfully aging in place. Among the different everyday activities, older adults' ability to manage food is central to enabling them to remain mentally and physically healthy. This is particularly relevant for older women who are more likely to live alone or give family care.

Aims. This study aims to examine the challenges and adaptive behavior of older women when conducting food-related activities such as food preparation, cooking, eating, and cleaning in their home environment. The study broadens the study of aging in place phenomena to an understudied population: older Indonesian women and older Indonesian immigrants living in the United States to understand the influence of sociocultural context on food-related activities settings and conduct.

Methods Using a constructive grounded theory approach, this study utilizes photo and video elicitation and interview for data collection. Twenty-four community-dwelling older Indonesian women aged 60 years and older will be asked to share the photos and videos of their home environment where they conduct their food-related activities, followed up by interviews to discuss their food-related activities settings, challenges, and response strategies to maintain their independence. The data will be analyzed using inductive coding, memoing, and theory building following the process of grounded theory study.

Expected outcomes. By understanding older women's challenges and adaptive behavior in food-related activities, the finding of this study will guide the development of design interventions and support that fit older women's personal and contextual needs. One of the study outcomes is designing recommendations for food-related activities settings that are sensitive to user's sociocultural background and supportive of the users' age-related changes. This study will create a foundation for developing future house designs, intervention programs, and policies to better support older women's health and independence.

This study is funded by:

  • Barbara A. Yates Fellowship

  • AIA Design for Aging Fellowship

  • Rita and Arnold Goodman Fellowship