From ‘Our Town’ to ‘Ghost Town’?: The Changing Context of Home for Rural Elders

Abstract

This research, grounded in a contextual view of environmental stress, employed an experiential field approach to explore outcomes of the continuing rural crisis of the past decade for elderly residents of four small Kansas towns. These rural changes threaten the survival of many towns, and affect their elderly residents, who often have enduring economic, social, and psychological investments in their homes and communities. At the same time, changes associated with aging may lead to transitions in the experience of home and community for these elderly individuals, regardless of the town's health. The two sources of change may have multi-faceted impacts on the well-being of the elderly individuals who experience them. Aspects of the research described here focus on environmental stressors related to housing and the meaning of attachment to home within economically-threatened communities. Some findings presented support previous research, while others reflect the region's unique socio-historical environment as a part of the Western Frontier. Implications for policy alternatives and the well-being of rural elderly are discussed.