Social Integration of Older Adults in the Periphery of Israel in Two Settlement Types

The study examines which variables are connected to social integration of older people in their living settlement; whether the type of settlement is connected to the social integration of older adults, and, also, what variables function as mediators in the connection between the settlement type and social integration. The findings show that older adults who resided in rural settlements were more socially integrated into their living settlements compared to their counterparts who resided in urban settlements. Social integration of older adults into their living settlements is highly connected to a number of living settlement attributes: a sense of belonging to the living settlements, familiarity with the physical settlement, and settlement characteristics (urban versus rural, a percentage of older adults, and amount of green spaces).