ABSTRACT
This paper focuses on stigma in collective living environments for older adults. We contrast two design profiles, a purpose-built campus which opened in 1997, and an older setting that grew by accretion over decades. The separation by care levels in both sites is reflected in their cultures as residents and staff relate to levels of care through a vocabulary of fear. Residents of the independent living building on the purpose-built campus refer to the assisted living building as “the dark side.” In this setting we observe stigma assigned to a place in the built environment. By contrast, the older setting features a less-structured clustering of independent living and assisted living. We have observed less stigma associated with levels of care in this older building. Grounding our analysis in data drawn from ongoing ethnographic research, we focus on the built environment as it relates to stigma in the social environment.
