Aging in Place: Family, Health, and Environmental Risk in Rural Eastern North Carolina

• In Event: Aging and the Life Course Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): 8: Living Arrangements and Housing (In)stability

Abstract

Social ties are a critical but often underexamined influence in disaster contexts. In Eastern North Carolina, older adults face a distinct set of challenges as they plan for aging in their communities. Their decisions about whether and how to age in place unfold within the context of family support, health care access, and recurring hurricanes and flooding. Despite the importance of social support in navigating aging and the challenges of rural life, research on immobility in environmentally risky contexts often overlooks the role of local family ties in migration and immobility decisions. This study addresses that gap by asking two questions: How do older adults in rural Eastern North Carolina plan for aging in place, and how are these plans shaped by family support networks, health conditions, and environmental risk? To answer these questions, I conduct in-depth interviews with older adults in Eastern North Carolina counties on on connections to place, local family ties, health and health care access, experiences with hurricanes and flooding, and plans for the future.

Author

• Anna Gardner, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill