"Nature has the power to heal because it is where we are from, it is where we belong and it belongs to us as an essential part of our health and our survival."
–Nooshin Razani
As you might imagine, I am often asked,
What is Eco Gerontology?
This question invites reflection, especially when considering the profound impact our environments and our interactions with our environments have on individuals, communities, and the natural world.
To begin, let's first understand what gerontology entails.
Gerontology is the study of aging processes across the lifespan, including the physical, mental, and social changes individuals undergo as they age. It's not just about older adults but encompasses all ages, recognizing that aging is a continuous process from the moment we take our first breath.
At its core, gerontology seeks to improve quality of life and wellbeing through interdisciplinary research, education, policy, and practice.
Decades of Research have demonstrated that our environments significantly impact longevity. We now know that the aging process is conditioned by genetic factors, variations in human development, and, above all, our dialogue with our environments.
Environmental gerontology, as defined by Wahl and Weisman (2003), is a branch of gerontology that examines the relationships and interactions between older adults and their socio-physical environments. Its goal is often to modify and optimize these interactions to improve quality of life and promote healthy longevity. –Hoh, et al., (2022).
Environmental gerontology focuses on how older adults, and all ages, interact with their surroundings to enhance their quality of life, covering aspects like physical health, psychology, behavior, and social interactions.
Now, let's dive into a new domain of Environmental Gerontology:
Eco Gerontology.
Eco Gerontology recognizes the intricate relationship between individuals and their built, social, and natural environments and understands that the natural environment supports our built and social environments. Our relationship with and the health of our social, physical, and natural environments impact the aging process.
'Eco' comes from the Ancient Greek word "okios," meaning "Home." Viewing "Home" holistically encompasses the various environments we inhabit, including land, birds and trees, towns, schools, care centers, neighborhoods, and workplaces.
Co-creating aging-friendly communities involves nurturing all these environments by understanding their characteristics that enhance quality of life and wellbeing. Qualitative and quantitative research has shown that environments supporting natural movement, connection with Nature, and a sense of purpose contribute to healthier, happier, and longer lives.
Dan Buettner discovered that people living in what he co-termed the Blue Zones live longer and healthier lives not due to pills, supplements, or extreme exercise but because their environments nudge them into:
–Moving naturally every 20min
–They live in towns built for humans, not just cars
–They walk, walk, and walk
–They knead bread and grind corn
–They live, work, and play outdoors, surrounded by healthy ecosystems and biodiversity
–They enjoy high levels of nature connectedness.
–They grow gardens and eat locally grown food
As Dan Buettner says, They live rewardingly inconvenient lives.
Additionally, the healthiest humans live with a sense of purpose and meaning, what the Japanese call Ikigai. They do not live for just hobbies and activities; they live for a purpose greater than themselves, with a sense of responsibility for their family, community, the natural environment, and future generations.
Why Does Eco Gerontology Matter?
Clean air, water, and soil are fundamental for healthy aging, alongside access to nutrient-rich food and healthy, biodiverse green and blue spaces. As we are all aging in a climate-changing world and facing unprecedented biodiversity loss, it's vital to recognize the connection between human health and Nature's health when innovating solutions to our most pressing local and global social and environmental problems.
Eco Gerontology prioritizes the natural environment in our efforts to co-create supportive environments for all ages. However, the natural environment is often overlooked in aging-friendly policies and projects. Rapid population aging and biodiversity loss are occurring together. According to the UN Decade of Healthy Aging in a Climate-changing World:
The next 10 years will be critical for the agendas of both climate change and healthy aging. Stakeholders in both agendas must understand the interconnections and find ways to amplify and reinforce them mutually for the benefit of people in the second half of their lives now, for future generations, and for planet Earth, our home.
As we continue to learn about the interconnectedness of human health and Nature's health, it becomes evident that our scope of environmental gerontology must expand. We need to broaden our perspective to encompass not only the built and social environments but also the natural environment. This expansion of focus is essential for developing comprehensive strategies and policies that nurture sustainable, aging-friendly communities for current and future generations to thrive.
The World Economic Forum article Nature and health crises are interconnected – this is how we can tackle them together, published earlier this year, highlights several key points that further underscore the vital role of Eco Gerontology in generating sustainable solutions, these points include:
Loss of Nature and biodiversity doesn't just affect the environment; it can also destroy the health of people and economies.
Biodiversity degradation is outpacing historical rates, leading to poor environmental, economic, and human health outcomes.
Urban air pollution exposure contributes to cognitive decline and increased risks of dementia, while drinking water contamination elevates risks of chronic diseases, and heat stress leads to higher mortality.
Despite living longer, people are not living healthier lives, leading to stresses in societal, economic, and healthcare systems.
Halting interconnected Nature and health crises requires solutions targeting investment and innovation, emphasizing the urgent need for Nature-inspired solutions to address these challenges.
The climate crisis fuels issues such as ecosystem collapse and resource scarcity, shedding light on how ecological decline feeds into social polarization and disharmony, with immense effects on human wellbeing, health, and longevity.
The World Wildlife Fund 2022 Living Planet Report found an average 69% decline in global populations of mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, and amphibians since 1970. The 2019 landmark Global Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services reported 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction—the highest number in human history.
Barriers and The Role of Eco Gerontology in Action
Eco Gerontology offers a comprehensive framework for nurturing Aging-Friendly Communities in a climate-changing world.
Imagine for a moment living in a residential care community that does not value your daily access to Fresh Air as paramount for your health and wellbeing.
People of all ages who can access Nature without support spend less time interacting with the natural world than previous generations.
Meaningful moments outdoors have been shown to prevent loneliness, boost quality of life and wellbeing, and have numerous positive impacts on physiological, psychological, social, spiritual, economic, and environmental health, often simultaneously—for all ages, including those providing care to others!
However, for older adults living in residential care communities, individuals living with dementia or mobility impairments, and those who live independently with in-home care and support, accessing the outdoors and Nature can be challenging, primarily when their ability to do so depends on others.
All Ages need Nature, yet when accessing Nature is not a valued form of care, nature-deprivation can become the normalized.
Introducing, the Growing $34 billion industry known as Senior Living.
Think for a moment about "Senior Living" available in your community.
Photo: Quotes from a qualitative study examining how adults (age 60+) describe their experience of the natural world.
'Senior living' encompasses a variety of facilities and communities, including Nursing Homes, Skilled Nursing Facilities, Assisted Living & Memory Care, Independent Senior Housing, and 55+ retirement communities.
I will never forget meeting 'Anne' in the hallway of the residential care community where I worked as an activity director. Anne lived with her husband for nearly sixty years in their hand-made cabin in the mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
They were true homesteaders; Anne churned her butter, grew much of the food they consumed, and was outdoors more than indoors. After her husband died, Anne moved from her rural oasis into an assisted living facility in town.
The day I found her, she was frantically walking the halls with a large bag filled with clothes hanging from her walker.
Anne, are you okay? I asked.
She responded with tears in her eyes:
I just want to do my own laundry!
Anne's new home did not provide her with the 'rewardingly inconvenient living' she needed to continue having independence, autonomy, and value. In addition, it did not have nature-rich outdoor spaces where she could enjoy the fresh air, gardening, listening and watching the birds, and hanging her laundry on a clothesline (one of her favorite chores).
Anne's mental and physical health and wellbeing deteriorated rapidly.
When our neighbors, friends, and family transition into "senior living," they often find themselves in facilities owned and operated by large corporations with little concern for fostering Aging-Friendly Communities.
These corporations often prioritize profit margins over community-based and nature-inspired innovative care and living. They see communities only through spreadsheets, neglecting the deeper connections within the broader context of the towns where their facilities are located.
This profit-driven mentality mirrors the approach of major corporate grocery chains like Walmart, prioritizing efficiency and profit over community. Often, this results in the displacement of local businesses and the disconnection of people from their neighborhoods, including the very farms that grow the food sustaining us all.
Staff working for these corporations can become trapped in a cycle of low wages, making them dependent on purchasing from these entities. This perpetuates the cycle of disconnection, dependency, and food and home insecurity.
Similarly, big corporate senior living fails to support or nurture an interdependent model within our communities, further exacerbating isolation, lower quality of life, and dependency.
The Dire Need for A Community-Based, Nature-Inspired Approach
Consider This: the fastest-growing segment of our nation's homeless population is people over the age of 65. By 2030, their numbers are set to triple.
What will the number of homeless older adults be in 2040?
These are not faceless statistics—they represent individuals, each with a unique story, often facing homelessness for the first time.
These are our neighbors, friends, family, community,
you and me.
Here in Monterey County, where I reside, the picture is equally bleak. With a child poverty rate exceeding 30% and more homeless students than San Francisco and San Jose combined, the struggle for survival is palpable.
Research revealed that an individual in Monterey County would need to earn 2.4 times the State minimum wage—$36.50 per hour—just to afford the average monthly rent.
Have you looked at the wages of those serving older adults in need in your neighborhood?
It's a stark reality: nutrient-rich food, stable and supportive housing, and access to healthcare are not optional luxuries but basic human needs fundamental to survival. Those working day-to-day positions in "senior living"—from housing admins, maintenance, and CNAs to Activity Directors—live with food and home insecurity, trapped in a cycle of chronic stress and unmanageable workloads.
These 'profits over people' models are generating an entirely new generation of future older adult homelessness, chronic illness and home and food insecure communities.
Aging-Friendly Nature Connected Communities Benefit All Ages
Research shows that children who spend more time on digital technology are more likely to exhibit higher levels of internalizing problems like depression and anxiety. According to the Children & Nature Network, kids today spend up to 44 hours per week on their digital devices and less than 10 minutes a day playing outdoors.
A Brief Background on Nature Accessibility in the United States
All ages need access to Nature, including parks, gardens, animals, forests, rivers, lakes, and beaches. The Nature Experience has definite effects on our physical and mental health, stimulates physical activity, and even improves our satisfaction with life.
Nature is not a luxury but a necessity for the health and wellbeing of all ages. But sadly, equal access to Nature is a barrier. It is estimated that 100 million Americans live in food and park deserts.
There are significant disparities in who does and does not have access to the outdoors in America. An astounding 70% of low-income communities are nature-deprived. Our neighbors who identify as Black, Hispanic and Latinx, American Indian/Alaska Native or Asian American, and Pacific Islander have extraordinarily less access to green space, with an average of 44% less park acreage than predominantly white neighborhoods!
Towards a Greener More Equitable Future
The Domains of Livability
Adopting an Eco Gerontology lens is advantageous as we navigate the complexities of aging-friendly initiatives. Integrating evidence-based, nature-inspired and community-based strategies into our programs and policies ensures that our communities prioritize both human and environmental health.
While AARP's 8 Domains of Livability provides a valuable framework, it overlooks the importance of the natural environment, which underpins all aspects of livability.
Therefore, I've introduced the 9th Domain, the Natural Environment, which encompasses local food production, biodiversity, and healthy ecosystems.
It is vital we recognize that the Natural Environment supports ALL the Domains of Livability.
Photo: The Domains of Livability is an evidence-based framework for
Co-Creating Aging-Friendly Communities. See added 9th Domain.
Implementing the 9th Domain of Livability
As we have covered thus far, Eco Gerontology expands environmental gerontology from a focus on our socio-physical environments to a focus on our socio-physical-natural environments.
Over three decades of research showcase how the Green Care Farm Model is a promising evidence-based template for integrating the 9 Domains of Livability into practice, nurturing aging-friendly communities in a climate-changing world.
Green Care Farms began popping up in the Netherlands in the 1990s as an innovative way to make farms multifunctional and financially sustainable. Their number continues to grow, from about 70 care farms in the 1990s to nearly 1,400 today. There are also around 400 social care farms in the U.K.
The growing movement of care farming supports people with various social and medical needs, including people living with dementia, depression, learning disabilities, work-related stress, chronically unemployed, marginalized youth, and older adults.
According to senior researcher and expert in care farming/social farming and green care,
Dr. Jan Hassink, the Dutch are leaders in the care farm movement due to their entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to making a difference.
They identify pressing issues due to their personal connection with participants and their involvement. They keep innovating to find new solutions leading to new types of participants, educational care farms for children dropping out from school, urban care farm initiatives, and care farming combined with local food and biodiversity, connecting social, health, ecological, community, and economic needs and objectives
– Dr. Jan Hassink.
YES!!!!
The Care Farm Model Solves Multiple Social and Environmental Problems = SIMULTANEOUSLY!!!
Imagine for a moment, if small-scale regenerative farms in the U.S. offered care farming, residential, and day programs...
Now, consider the possibility of care farming becoming a cornerstone community-based practice for fostering Aging-Friendly Communities in rural regions—areas abundant in farms but lacking traditional support systems for aging populations.
The sky is the limit on what is possible!
Nurturing the 9 Domains of Livability Grows Reciprocal-Shared Care, which positively impacts the health and wellbeing of people of all ages, people, and planet.
Eco Gerontology emphasizes the importance of the natural environment in supporting all domains of livability and advocates for nature-inspired and community-based solutions to our most pressing social and environmental challenges.
As we navigate the complexities of aging in a climate-changing world,
embracing Eco Gerontology offers a roadmap and a transformative paradigm shift. Together, we can co-create a future where all ages thrive, benefiting both people and the planet.
The quest for positive change remains my focal point as I direct my efforts toward collaborations with organizations that cherish expertise and insights, seeking to prioritize the greater good.
If your organization and community shares this vision and is committed to driving positive change, I eagerly await the opportunity to connect and explore avenues for collaboration.
Let us join forces in pursuit of a better future for current and future generations =
Greening Care from Soil to Soul!
References
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