6.1 CONCEPT

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association (2019), people live in a very disconnected world despite technology offering more connections than ever. This disconnect impacts the ability to create meaningful social connections, which has been proven to lower anxiety and depression, regulate emotions, and increase empathy and self-esteem.

Therefore, the concept for the proposed retirement community is connections. Connection is the direct relationship in which a person or object is linked with something or someone else. These connections range between the: • Younger and the older generations • Residents • Residents and public spaces • Residents and the public in the surrounding neighbourhoods • Inside and outside spaces • Public, semi-public, and private spaces • Earth through food grown on the premises • Culture through knowledge exchange.

A healthy social environment for the elderly could help improve quality of life by creating social and physical connections with external sources (children, nature, each other, their context).