H Mollenkopf

Publications (8)3.9 Total impact

• Article: [The compatibility of housing needs and housing conditions and and its impact on experiencing attachment to a district].

  A Hieber, F Oswald, H-W Wahl, H Mollenkopf
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  ABSTRACT: Based on the "complementary-congruence model" of person-environment (p-e) fit, this study focuses on housing in old age as an interaction between housing needs and housing conditions in urban settings. The research aims are: (1) To establish a set of housing-related p-e fit indices based on the relationship between environmental needs and existing conditions in different physical and social domains, and to describe housing among elders aged 51-80 years and in different urban districts with these indices. The study distinguishes between basic, higher-order and social needs relating to housing; (2) To explain outdoor place attachment as an indicator for quality of life in different urban districts with a set of predictors including these person-environment fit indices. Data were drawn from telephone-based interviews with 365 older adults (51-80 years) who were questioned about individual housing needs and housing conditions. Results revealed higher p-e fit scores in the domains of higher-order and social housing needs and conditions in the districts which were considered to be more pleasant but had poor access to the city and to public transportation. In contrast, age was more important in explaining differences in the domain of basic housing needs and conditions with higher p-e fit scores among older participants in all settings. In explaining outdoor place attachment, the fit between basic and social housing needs and conditions was important, but the higher-order fit did not play a role.
  Zeitschrift für Gerontologie + Geriatrie 09/2005; 38(4):293-300. · 0.61 Impact Factor
• Article: [New technologies in the daily lives of the elderly].

  H Mollenkopf, H W Wahl, M Reichert
  Zeitschrift für Gerontologie + Geriatrie 07/2000; 33(3):153-4. · 0.61 Impact Factor
• Article: Acceptance and use of technological solutions by the elderly in the outdoor environment: findings from a European survey.

  F Marcellini, H Mollenkopf, L Spazzafumo, I Ruoppila
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  ABSTRACT: This article examines the use and acceptance of ticket machines, automatic teller machines (ATMs) and telephone cards by the elderly in four European regions. The analyses are based on data from an international project entitled "Keeping the Elderly Mobile", collected in Mannheim (former West Germany; N = 404 home-dwelling respondents), Chemnitz (former East Germany; N = 400), Ancona (Italy; N = 600), and Jyväskylä (Finland; N = 618). The random sample was stratified by age and gender in each country. Two generations of men and women (aged 55-74 and 75+ years, respectively) participated in the study. Results show that respondents generally made little use of the three technologies under investigation: in fact, the majority of respondents does not use them at all. The most frequently used devices were ATMs in Chemnitz and ticket machines and telephone cards in Mannheim. On the basis of logistic regression analysis, age was the most important explanatory factor for the three technologies and for all four regions, i.e., the users were mostly the "young-old." Education was a more important variable than gender. In all four regions, the majority of the respondents who used the technologies assessed felt that each of them made life easier; nevertheless, ticket machines make life more difficult to almost every third user in Mannheim. Interesting differences and similarities among the towns were also found. The present study exhibits preliminary results regarding elderly and technology which future research should investigate in greater depth.
  Zeitschrift für Gerontologie + Geriatrie 07/2000; 33(3):169-77. · 0.61 Impact Factor
• Article: [Technology in residences for support of a self-determined life style for the elderly. The research project "sentha" and initial results of a social science project].

  H Mollenkopf, S Meyer, E Schulze, S Wurm, W Friesdorf
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  ABSTRACT: Sentha is an interdisciplinary research team involving the Technical University Berlin, the Berlin Institute for Social Research GmbH (BIS), the German Centre for Research on Ageing at the University of Heidelberg (DZFA), the School of Fine Arts Berlin (HdK), and the Brandenburg Technical University Cottbus (BTU). Building on empirical investigations of the role of everyday household products in the everyday life of older people, product-independent design and assessment guidelines and new products are being developed in an intensive interdisciplinary process in order to better meet the needs of older people and to enhance their autonomous living. The following paper describes the contributions from the participating disciplines and presents initial results of the social sciences subproject, describing the problems arising in living independently in old age and detecting the demands on new technological solutions. Data are based on a representative survey conducted in 1999 and including a stratified sample of 1417 men and women aged 55 and older.
  Zeitschrift für Gerontologie + Geriatrie 07/2000; 33(3):155-68. · 0.61 Impact Factor
• Article: Diffusion and acceptance of technological solutions among the elderly in three European countries.

  F Marcellini, C Gagliardi, L Spazzafumo, H Mollenkopf, I Ruoppila
  Studies in health technology and informatics 02/1998; 48:462-4.
• Article: The outdoor mobility of elderly people--a comparative study in three European countries.

  H Mollenkopf, F Marcellini, I Ruoppila
  Studies in health technology and informatics 02/1998; 48:204-11.
• Article: The perception of traffic conditions by elderly people. A comparative study in three European countries.

  P Flaschenträger, L Spazzafumo, F Marcellini, H Mollenkopf, I Ruoppila
  Studies in health technology and informatics 02/1998; 48:212-6.
• Article: Outdoor mobility and social relationships of elderly people.

  H Mollenkopf, F Marcellini, I Ruoppila, P Flaschenträger, C Gagliardi, L Spazzafumo
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  ABSTRACT: Social relationships and activities are important elements in the quality of life of older people. With advancing age, they are made more difficult through the possible loss of physical functions, through societal processes of differentiation, and through unfavourable environmental and technological conditions. Therefore, mobility becomes a fundamental prerequisite for the participation in social relations and activities. This article presents some initial findings of a project which investigates the mobility needs of the elderly and the main factors hindering their desired mobility in three European countries. It became apparent that there is a clear connection between the social situation of elderly persons and specific mobility patterns: if they are tied into a closely meshed network of family or friends, then they are away from home more frequently than when this is not the case. In addition, individual factors like the age, the health situation and the driving ability of a person are important influences. External factors which restrict the mobility can be found in the respective spatial or technical conditions, on the one hand, and in affecting social interactions in the public sphere on the other hand.
  Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics 24(3):295-310. · 1.45 Impact Factor