SPOKANE, Wash.When Bob Scarfo, associate professor at the Interdisciplinary Design Institute, asked how Spokane’s built environment would affect its aging residents, he realized that a landscape architect’s eye was rarely applied to this question. Studies might consider, for instance, political, family, or social environments, but not the streets, structures, or sidewalks that form the built environment. For elders no longer able to drive, such on-the-ground aspects surely matter. Scarfo’s insight is made timely by the fact that the baby boomers will soon reach retirement and many of them live in suburbs designed for convenient driving, not healthy aging.
Scarfo continued to research the spatial element of aging and in the process began collaborating with other interested experts, leading to the recent publication of “Re-Creating Neighborhoods for Successful Aging.” The anthology is imbued with the understanding that can happen when academics and professionals apply their different areas of expertise to a problem.
“Re-Creating Neighborhoods,” co-edited by Scarfo, approaches aging from a host of angles, including gerontology, health sciences, community planning, landscape architecture and environmental design; the result is a valuable resource for urban planners, policy makers, and public health professionals, among others.
In Scarfo’s words, the editors believe “that greater collaboration among health and built environment practitioners will promote increased opportunities for people of all ages to actively engage in their communities, expand their creativity, and develop spiritually.” Such interdisciplinary efforts exemplify WSU Spokane’s “team care” approach to health care.
“Re-Creating Neighborhoods” includes introductory essays by Scarfo, as well as articles on horticultural therapy, historical approaches to long-term care, different models for retirement communities, the challenges posed by suburbs and the opportunities a collaborative approach offers. Of special interest is an article co-authored by Kerry Brooks, also an associate professor at the Interdisciplinary Design Institute, and Scarfo that examines how to use geographic information systems (GIS) as a tool for making the built environment more friendly to aging citizens.
For more information on the book Re-Creating Neighborhoods: https://www.healthpropress.com/store/abbott-29241/index.htm
Scarfo is available at 509-358-7913 or scarfo@wsu.edu.
