'Kookaburras, kangaroos and my frilly-necked lizard': The value of wildlife, nature and companion animals for older community-dwelling Australians.

OBJECTIVE: With little research investigating older Australians' experience of companion animal (pet) ownership or wildlife encounters, this paper focuses on the value of animals in their lives. METHODS: Three online focus groups explored 103 older adults' lived experience of home and community, with this paper focused on interactions with animals-companion animals and wildlife. RESULTS: Most (60%) had at least one pet, which brought love and joy into their lives. Reflexive thematic analysis identified three themes: pets as family; challenges of pet ownership; and connection to everyday wildlife and nature. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to valuing companion animals (typically cats and dogs), this research is among the first to show that some older people also develop ongoing relationships with local Australian wildlife, such as kookaburras, kangaroos, lizards and birds, which raises the possibility that fostering connections with wildlife may enhance well-being.

Fears and freedoms: A qualitative analysis of older adults' basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, relatedness and beneficence.

OBJECTIVES: Self-determination theory posits three universal psychological needs: autonomy, competence and relatedness. Beneficence has recently been proposed as an important behaviour for improved well-being and eudaimonia. This study sought to qualitatively examine older adults' experiences of basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration. METHODS: Three separate and simultaneous national online focus groups were undertaken over four consecutive days. Older Australians (n =103) explored home and community life. Themes were identified using reflexive thematic analysis. RESULTS: Older adults are challenged in satisfying their psychological needs, especially around the time - and after- they retire and as mobility decreases. Beneficence emerged as important for well-being, congruent with evidence that beneficence influences well-being beyond basic psychological need fulfilment. CONCLUSIONS: Satisfactions and frustration may manifest differently for older adults than for other groups. Thus, their experiences may not adequately be captured by self-report measures. Novel themes of 'fears and freedoms' were identified in the study. Fear pertained to the loss of autonomy and the freedom to spend time as one wishes.

My home in later life: A phenomenographic study of older adults' experience of home.

Home environments are especially important for older adults whose lives are more home-based than earlier life stages. Despite a focus on ageing in place, there often remains a mismatch between housing options prioritised by government and industry, and the needs and preferences of older adults. This paper considers the breadth of home environments experienced by diverse older Australians and highlights the varied ways they use and think about their homes. Data from three national online focus groups (n1 = 33, n2 = 37, n3 = 33) with people aged 50-92 were analysed using phenomenographic approaches to explore the different ways older adults perceived their home environments, resulting in four hierarchical conceptions. People displayed vastly different lifetime housing pathways (Clapham, 2005), leading to diverse perceptions about the place and experience of home in their later lives. In assessing the suitability of their housing, older people considered a large number of household members: current, expected or desired co-residents; transitory, short, medium and long-term residents; near and extended family, friends and dependents. This has important implications for policy and design responses on older adult's homes, which are typically focussed on occupancy by one or two individuals. To avoid assumptions about household makeup and usage based solely on the chronological age of residents, the perspective of older adults must be embraced in designing their future housing.

Systems Modelling of the Socio-Technical Aspects of Residential Electricity Use and Network Peak Demand.

Provision of network infrastructure to meet rising network peak demand is increasing the cost of electricity. Addressing this demand is a major imperative for Australian electricity agencies. The network peak demand model reported in this paper provides a quantified decision support tool and a means of understanding the key influences and impacts on network peak demand. An investigation of the system factors impacting residential consumers' peak demand for electricity was undertaken in Queensland, Australia. Technical factors, such as the customers' location, housing construction and appliances, were combined with social factors, such as household demographics, culture, trust and knowledge, and Change Management Options (CMOs) such as tariffs, price, managed supply, etc., in a conceptual 'map' of the system. A Bayesian network was used to quantify the model and provide insights into the major influential factors and their interactions. The model was also used to examine the reduction in network peak demand with different market-based and government interventions in various customer locations of interest and investigate the relative importance of instituting programs that build trust and knowledge through well designed customer-industry engagement activities. The Bayesian network was implemented via a spreadsheet with a tickbox interface. The model combined available data from industry-specific and public sources with relevant expert opinion. The results revealed that the most effective intervention strategies involve combining particular CMOs with associated education and engagement activities. The model demonstrated the importance of designing interventions that take into account the interactions of the various elements of the socio-technical system. The options that provided the greatest impact on peak demand were Off-Peak Tariffs and Managed Supply and increases in the price of electricity. The impact in peak demand reduction differed for each of the locations and highlighted that household numbers, demographics as well as the different climates were significant factors. It presented possible network peak demand reductions which would delay any upgrade of networks, resulting in savings for Queensland utilities and ultimately for households. The use of this systems approach using Bayesian networks to assist the management of peak demand in different modelled locations in Queensland provided insights about the most important elements in the system and the intervention strategies that could be tailored to the targeted customer segments.

A framework for understanding and generating integrated solutions for residential peak energy demand.

Supplying peak energy demand in a cost effective, reliable manner is a critical focus for utilities internationally. Successfully addressing peak energy concerns requires understanding of all the factors that affect electricity demand especially at peak times. This paper is based on past attempts of proposing models designed to aid our understanding of the influences on residential peak energy demand in a systematic and comprehensive way. Our model has been developed through a group model building process as a systems framework of the problem situation to model the complexity within and between systems and indicate how changes in one element might flow on to others. It is comprised of themes (social, technical and change management options) networked together in a way that captures their influence and association with each other and also their influence, association and impact on appliance usage and residential peak energy demand. The real value of the model is in creating awareness, understanding and insight into the complexity of residential peak energy demand and in working with this complexity to identify and integrate the social, technical and change management option themes and their impact on appliance usage and residential energy demand at peak times.

Moving from outsider to insider: peer status and partnerships between electricity utilities and residential consumers.

An electricity demand reduction project based on comprehensive residential consumer engagement was established within an Australian community in 2008. By 2011, both the peak demand and grid supplied electricity consumption had decreased to below pre-intervention levels. This case study research explored the relationship developed between the utility, community and individual consumer from the residential customer perspective through qualitative research of 22 residential households. It is proposed that an energy utility can be highly successful at peak demand reduction by becoming a community member and a peer to residential consumers and developing the necessary trust, access, influence and partnership required to create the responsive environment to change. A peer-community approach could provide policymakers with a pathway for implementing pro-environmental behaviour for low carbon communities, as well as peak demand reduction, thereby addressing government emission targets while limiting the cost of living increases from infrastructure expenditure.

Conceptions of 'community' among older adults living in high-density urban areas: an Australian case study.

AIM: The aim of this study was to explore the social networks of community and its connection to location for older people living in inner city high density (ICHD). METHOD: Using a case study approach employing qualitative (diaries, in-depth interviews) and quantitative (global positioning systems and geographical information systems mapping) methods, this paper explores the everyday interaction and social networks and where they manifest spatially for a group of older ICHD Australians. RESULTS: Social networks in two community territories were found to be of particular importance to participants in terms of influencing feelings of well-being, support, social inclusion and cohesion. These two territories include the building where older people reside and the area immediately surrounding the building. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the importance of recognising the spatial aspect of community to better understand the social networks of community and their effects on well-being and social cohesion for ICHD older people.