Lifestyles of belief: narrative and culture in a retirement community

Abstract

This paper examines the culture and narratives occurring in a purpose-built retirement community. It is argued that in order to understand the effects that such a community can have on wellbeing, it is necessary to analyse the interaction of a variety of interweaving narratives used to sustain a secure micro-cultural base. These narratives include formal representations, daily life as experienced by tenants and imaginative associations within community culture. Retirement communities for older people have been represented as containing the positive features of both residential care and neighbourhood life. They have also been criticised as promoting exclusivity and negative attitudes to outsiders. Tenants reported experiences of a high level of interdependence and peer support. They saw the community as a positive alternative to nursing homes, continued residence in their local neighbourhoods and reliance on family support. It was found that this retirement community was perceived to have a positive effect on wellbeing which was attributed to peer culture and was sustained by imaginative narratives of miracle and progress. However, certain groups were excluded from this dominant reading.