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Exploring The Environmental Factors That Shape The Experiences Of Risk For Older Adults, Bernice Chung

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

When a young adult wants to go mountain climbing, rarely do people think it is “too dangerous”. The same cannot be said for older adults. Although life frequently involves risk-taking, older adults are too often positioned as ‘at risk’ and therefore, in need of protection. The problem lies in the way risk is conceptualized as an individually located phenomenon. This narrow view negates the environmental factors that exist outside the control of older adults and that shape risk in older adulthood. I wanted to address this gap, so my research explored the environmental factors that shape experiences of risk for …