Catherine BigonnesseUniversity of New Brunswick · Department of Political Science
Catherine Bigonnesse
Ph.D. in Gerontology
Canada Research Chair in Healthy Aging
About
47
Publications
8,964
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212
Citations
Citations since 2017
Introduction
My research interests are healthy aging, aging in place, the neighbourhood environment, innovative housing and support service models for older adults, meaning of home, community building processes, and age-friendly cities. My current research is looking at healthy aging in Atlantic Canada.
Additional affiliations
January 2018 - December 2018
Position
- Instructor
Description
- Instructor at École de travail social for undergraduate course TSOC4203— Analyses des problèmes sociaux.
October 2017 - present
Université de Moncton
Position
- PostDoc Position
October 2014 - March 2017
Position
- Research Assistant
Description
- Research trainee for the Canadian Disability Participation Project.
Education
September 2012 - February 2018
September 2009 - July 2012
September 2006 - May 2009
Publications
Publications (47)
Link to full article: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/MkAp99X2sBhuK84redNA/full
To support older adults’ desire to age-in-place, their housing needs must be well understood. However, little research has explored housing needs from older adults’ point of view. This article, based on the results of 49 focus groups (n=392) and one case study from th...
The majority of Canada’s older adults want to “age in place” in their home and community as long as possible, even in the face of declining health and physical functioning. Cohousing and Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC) have been identified as potential aging in place phenomenon. However, empirical research on both communities in C...
The literature on the concept of “aging in place” covers a wide range of areas, however, there is no consensus on how it should be defined or on the influencing factors. This literature review aimed to identify its definitions, related processes, and factors. Results showed there was much variability in the definition and theoretical assumptions an...
Cohousing is an innovative form of housing that is characterized by the autonomy of private dwellings with the advantages of shared resources in a socially intentional culture of mutual support. While there are many benefits of cohousing, the growth of cohousing for seniors in Eastern Canada has been slow. We share findings from seven interviews co...
The concept of “ageing in place” has become increasingly significant in the environmental gerontology literature. Despite its predominance, there have been limited efforts to offer a more comprehensive and nuanced conceptualization of this topic. Definitions found in the literature are often too simplistic and only partially capture the various asp...
Objective: The objective of this scoping review is to chart the extent and type of literature available worldwide on the effects of cohousing communities on older adults’ social determinants of health, to identify and categorize key evidence on this topic, and to highlight gaps to guide further research.
Introduction: The rapid aging population in...
Our objective in this study was to learn about the experiences of older adults living in a cohousing community during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this qualitative exploratory study, we interviewed 13 participants living in Canadian cohousing communities between October 2021 and January 2022. One key challenge identified focused on some community memb...
Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, strict visitor restrictions were issued for long-term care facilities (LTCFs). A year later, restrictions are still in place and they continue to impact family members who have limited or no in-person contact with their relative in LTCFs. The goal of this qualitative longitudinal focused ethnography...
Background:
The relationship between frailty and variables such as housing are the least included in models of frailty and research on frailty or social frailty and relocation is negligible. The decision to relocate is complex and demanding for older adults with a loss of independence but little is known about what makes older adults relocate to c...
Although most older adults live outside of care institutions, not all seniors choose to live in traditional family homes. Among those who relocate, some relocate too early while others are pre-frail or frail when they relocate. Social frailty – the interaction between social vulnerability and frailty – could contribute to these untimely relocations...
The neighbourhood built environment influences mobility and participation of persons using mobility assistive technology (MAT). Documentation of environmental barriers/facilitators by MAT users can enable them to vocalize and advocate their needs. This article presents results from a study with 24 MAT users who collected observational and photograp...
SYMPOSIA. Although research on aging in place in the community context has significantly increased in the last decade, few studies have adopted a participatory method engaging older adults in the conception, conduct and/or knowledge translation in a project. Also, there is limited empirical evidence based on older adults’ subjective experiences of...
This presentation shares findings of a multi-case study of the influence of the social and physical environments of home and neighbourhood on the processes of aging in place. Twenty older adults living in three cohousing and two Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) in British
Columbia, Canada were recruited to conduct photovoices and sem...
The neighbourhood environment influences mobility and participation of older adults especially those using mobility assistive technology (AT). Documentation of environmental barriers/facilitators in neighbourhoods by AT users can enable them to vocalize and advocate their needs for mobility and participation. Twenty-four AT users collected observat...
This presentation shares findings of a multi-case study of the influence of the social and physical environments of home and neighbourhood on the processes of aging in place. Twenty older adults living in three cohousing and two Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) in British Columbia, Canada were recruited to conduct photovoices and sem...
Although research on aging in place in the community context has significantly increased in the last decade, few studies have adopted a participatory method engaging older adults in the conception, conduct and/or knowledge translation in a project. Also, there is limited empirical evidence based on older adults’ subjective experiences of the social...
This presentation reports findings of a multi-case study of the influence of the social and physical environments of home and neighbourhood on the processes of aging in place. Twenty older adults living in three Cohousing and two Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC) in British Columbia, Canada were recruited to conduct photovoices and...
Seniors who age in place (AIP) in rural communities are more vulnerable to physical and mental health issues than those living in urban communities and often lack accessibility to proximate services. This mixed-methods study examined potential factors, services and resources that contribute or impede successful AIP. Nine older adults living in a ru...
Cohousing is a growing form of housing for older adults that is characterized by the autonomy of private dwellings with the advantages of shared resources and community living in a socially intentional culture of mutual support. There are many benefits of cohousing identified including increased social interaction, high levels of social support, im...
Objective: Cohousing and Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC) present the potential for aging in place initiatives and to support older adults who want to stay in their home and community as long as possible. However, empirical research on both communities in Canada is scarce. This paper presents the findings of a multiple-case study c...
Context: The neighbourhood environment influences mobility and participation of people especially those using mobility assistive technology (MAT). Documentation of environmental barriers/facilitators in neighbourhoods by MAT users can enable
them to vocalize and advocate their needs for mobility and participation. Methods: The 89-item “Stakeholders...
This paper presents a systematic literature review on the impact of the neighborhood physical environment on mobility and social participation among people using mobility assistive technology (MAT). Peer-reviewed articles from eight databases published in French or English from 1990 to 2016 were searched. Thirty studies were included in this review...
Context: The neighbourhood environment influences mobility and participation of older adults especially those using mobility assistive technology (AT). Documentation of environmental barriers/facilitators in neighbourhoods by AT users can enable them to vocalize and advocate their needs for mobility and participation. Methods: The 89-item “Stakehol...
Context: 85% of Canadians over 55 years-old want to age in their home and community as long as possible even in the face of decline in health status and physical functioning. Many physical environmental and social factors of the neighbourhood influence aging in place. Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC) and cohousing communities are a...
Context: 85% of Canadians over 55 years-old want to age in their home and community as long as possible even in the face of decline in health status and physical functioning. Many physical environmental and social factors of the neighbourhood influence aging in place. Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC), and more recently, Cohousing c...
Abstract
As a daughter-father collaboration, this paper aims to discuss the challenge of involving older adults in the process of participation in society. It first explores some of the root causes of ageism, such as the stigma attached to discussions of death in our society and the materialist conception of human ontology. In the second part, this...
Context: The concept of "aging in place" has gained popularity in gerontology literature and seniors' housing policy discussion over the last 30 years. Multiple factors of the physical and social environments impact the potentials and challenges of aging in place. However, research on the concurrent influence of physical and social environmental co...
Context: Over three million Canadians have a mobility disability and a significant portion of these individuals are older adults. The majority of them rely on assistive technology (such as, cane, walkers and wheelchairs) to get from place to place. Research on the impact of the physical environment on mobility and participation among people with di...
Introduction: The majority of older adults are attached to their living environment and desire to age in a familiar environment. A principal element of aging-in-place is social connectedness, which is connected to the concept of social capital. However, research has not examined the full range of health factors that may influence social capital. Ob...
Cet article décrit trois modèles novateurs d’habitation et de services de soutien destinés aux aînés et peu connus du grand public : les communautés de cohousing, le village Beacon Hill et les NORC-SSP. À la suite d’une brève présentation de ces trois modèles, une discussion sur ce qui favorise le vieillir chez-soi est proposée à la lumière de quat...
This article aims to better understand the implementation process of community-based housing for older adults by non profit organisations and its impact on community building process. Based on a case study from the Age-Friendly Cities project in Québec (Canada), this article presents the steps involved in the implementation process of community-bas...
Problem: The limitations of the current housing options for older adults in meaningfully supporting older adults’ preference to age-in-place (AIP), have led to the development of multiple innovative housing and service models. However, the potential of these models to support aging in place is not well understood, along with a scarcity of empirical...
Bigonnesse, C., Beaulieu, M., & Garon, S. (2013). L’habitation destinée aux aînés : l’importance du chez soi et de la participation dans le développement de nouveaux modèles. Reflets, (Mars 2013), 14.
Public policies contain a priori understanding on the aging of the population, which is why there is interest in gaining a better understanding of the roles in the individual and social experiences of aging. The Global Age-Friendly Cities (GAFC) initiative, developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), has been attracting more and more interest...
Conférence scientifique avec arbitrage (November 14-18), poster non présenté
Le Québec connaît un vieillissement très rapide de sa population et cette importante transformation sociale forcera de nombreuses modifications dans la planification des services publics afin de répondre aux besoins changeants de la population. Ceci est particulièrement le cas dans le milieu de l'habitation qui sera influencé à plusieurs niveaux et...
Conférence scientifique avec arbitrage (25-26 janvier)
Québec would be the state that, after Japan, has the fastest aging population in the world. In this context, many questions about service planning arise, whether concerning health, recreation, transportation or housing. This article focuses specifically on the effects of this demographic change on the living conditions of seniors, on the issues it...
Conférence scientifique avec arbitrage
Projects
Projects (6)
The dEMAND Project is a multiphase study entitled, ‘Enabling Mobility and Participation among those with Disabilities’ led by the Mobility Team of the Canadian Disability Participation Project (CDPP). CDPP’s overarching goal is to enhance the quantity and quality of community participation among youth and adults living with physical disabilities across the domains of employment, community mobility, and sport/exercise. More information about the CDPP can be found here: https://cdpp.ca
A collaborative research project with a group of seniors in a francophone rural community of New Brunswick to develop community-based housing to support the need of the aging population.
This project aims at providing access to proximity support services to Francophone older adults living in rural New-Brunswick, Canada and to learn how to engage older adults in community-based participatory research project.
