Connecting health and place through age-friendly built environments to reduce experiences of loneliness (mokemoke) for Māori

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12543732
AutoresDanielle Lee Smith (0009-0005-3825-8925, University of Waikato, autor de correspondencia), John G Oetzel (University of Waikato), Mary Louisa Simpson (0000-0002-3915-4897, University of Waikato), Yvonne Wilson, Sophie Nock (0000-0002-6588-1158, University of Waikato), Rangimahora Reddy (Águas de Portugal (Portugal))
Año2026
Volumen98
Páginas103620-103620
Fecha de publicación2026-01-23
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaHealth & Place (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1353-8292 • E-ISSN: 1873-2054
EditorialElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.healthplace.2026.103620
PMID41579435
OpenAlexW7125649517
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas27

Prior to colonisation, experiences of loneliness were rare among Māori (the Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand), as there were sophisticated, place-based connections between people, land, housing, and nature. This reality is often not the case in 21st-century urban housing environments where feelings of loneliness are a confronting reality for older adults, impacting their health, well-being, and the suitability of their housing. The purpose of this paper was to determine how housing characteristics of contemporary Indigenous built environments prevent experiences of loneliness. Twenty residents of a modern Māori age-friendly housing village, known as an urban papakāinga, were interviewed. The thematic analysis identified four characteristics consistent with traditional Māori cultural values and practices that enabled urban housing spaces to facilitate connection to place through nature, thereby reducing experiences of loneliness. These characteristics are haporitanga (community and socialisation opportunities), āhurutanga (comfortable, safe spaces for movement and mobility that prioritise the natural world), ūkaipōtanga (sense of sustenance and belonging), and tangihanga (culturally appropriate end-of-life and afterlife care customs). The paper offers alternative ontological approaches to aging-in-place, and therefore has implications for housing providers globally, specifically those supporting First Nations and Indigenous peoples

Aging in place · Aotearoa · Built environment · Feeling · Grassroots · Indigenous · Loneliness · Sustenance · Thematic analysis · Collaborative and Sustainable Housing Initiatives · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights · New Zealand Economic and Social Studies