Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted Social Isolation and Desire for Privacy of Older Adults Living in Private Villa-Type Homes in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A Space Syntax Analysis(2023) Almayman, Mayman; Park, Nam-kyuOlder adults spend a significant proportion of their time in their homes' interior spaces, which in turn, have a considerable potential to influence their health and well-being. Studies have emphasized the role of socio-environmental variables, e.g., social interaction and privacy, in fostering healthy aging. Precedent literature applied several approaches to understand the relationship between the built environment and these variables. However, there is a lack of research that addresses this relationship using a holistic, mixed-method approach focusing on the spatial configuration of private homes. Utilizing a sample of 25 villa-type homes in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this research aims to understand the association of home spatial configuration with its older adult residents' social isolation and desire for privacy. The study used space syntax metrics (i.e., mean depth, average integration, and average connectivity) to assess the homes' spatial configuration. In parallel, the study used the Desire for Privacy Scale and the English Longitudinal Study of Aging's social isolation measures (Domestic Isolation, Social Contact, and Social Disengagement) to obtain social isolation and desire for privacy levels from the older adult dwellers. The study also incorporated the participants' experiences through semi-structured interviews to explore factors that support achieving their desired interaction and privacy levels. The quantitative findings identified a significant, negative correlation between the homes' average connectivity and the older adults' social disengagement levels and a significant, positive correlation between homes' mean depth and the older adults' desire for privacy levels. The qualitative results confirmed these findings to a great extent and identified three overarching and interrelated themes regarding how older adults achieve their desired social interaction and privacy levels given their homes' spatial configuration. These themes are environmental characteristics, behavioral practices, and social routines and roles. The study concludes that in the context of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the spatial configuration's relationship with social isolation and desire for privacy may not be straightforward, and behavioral practices and social routines and roles could influence such a relationship. The findings have implications that could advance the knowledge, policies, and professional practice to support the older adults' quality of life within their homes.37 0