Assisted living has been promoted as a noninstitutional relocation choice offering personal care services for older persons in a residential or homelike context. Yet, it is unknown whether assisted living is actually perceived as homelike. A study was conducted to examine whether one aspect of assisted living—the exterior appearance—is perceived as homelike by older persons and family members. The study used color photographs of existing assisted living buildings, and participants were asked to evaluate the scenes in terms of homeyness. Findings indicate that three characteristics of the scenes were particularly salient in the evaluations: entries, building height, and sense of “institutional” or “homelike.” Older persons and family members showed strong agreement with respect to certain entries and features that reflected homelike character. Dissimilarities, however, also existed. In particular, older persons tended to favor sheltered entries on a small scale and newer buildings, whereas family members placed less emphasis on a one-story building height.
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