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.

家庭环境对于老年人来说尤其重要，他们的生活比早期生活阶段更多地以家庭为基础。尽管关注就地老龄化，但政府和行业优先考虑的住房选择与老年人的需求和偏好之间往往仍然存在不匹配。本文考虑了不同的澳大利亚老年人所经历的家庭环境的广度，并重点介绍了他们使用和思考家庭的不同方式。使用现象学方法分析了来自三个国家在线焦点小组（n1 = 33、n2 = 37、n3 = 33）的数据，其中年龄在 50-92 岁之间，以探索老年人感知家庭环境的不同方式，从而产生四个层次概念。人们展示了截然不同的终生住房途径（Clapham，2005），导致他们在晚年对家的位置和经历产生不同的看法。在评估其住房的适宜性时，老年人考虑了大量家庭成员：当前、预期或期望的共同居住者；临时、短期、中期和长期居民；近亲和大家庭、朋友和家属。这对老年人住宅的政策和设计响应具有重要意义，这些住宅通常侧重于一两个人的入住。为避免仅根据居民的实际年龄对家庭构成和使用情况进行假设，在设计他们未来的住房时必须考虑老年人的观点。预期或期望的共同居住者；临时、短期、中期和长期居民；近亲和大家庭、朋友和家属。这对老年人住宅的政策和设计响应具有重要意义，这些住宅通常侧重于一两个人的入住。为避免仅根据居民的实际年龄对家庭构成和使用情况进行假设，在设计他们未来的住房时必须考虑老年人的观点。预期或期望的共同居住者；临时、短期、中期和长期居民；近亲和大家庭、朋友和家属。这对老年人住宅的政策和设计响应具有重要意义，这些住宅通常侧重于一两个人的入住。为避免仅根据居民的实际年龄对家庭构成和使用情况进行假设，在设计他们未来的住房时必须考虑老年人的观点。