Challenges of cross-national housing research with older persons: lessons from the ENABLE-AGE project

This article discusses the cross-national project Enabling Autonomy, Participation, and Well-Being in Old Age: The Home Environment as a Determinant for Healthy Ageing. Cross-national, interdisciplinary research always entails challenges, while those involving person-environment research have not yet been reported much in the literature. The general aim of this contribution is to provide a systematic analysis of the major challenges in interdisciplinary, cross-national research on housing and health among older persons. The main objective of the project is to examine subjective and objective aspects of housing and their impact on health in very old age, while health is understood mainly in terms of autonomy, participation and well-being. The project involves five European Union member countries, i.e. Sweden (coordinating unit), Germany, the United Kingdom, Latvia and Hungary. The total sample includes 1,918 older adults in the age range of 75–89 years and living in single households