Assessing the significance of first place and online third places in supporting Malaysian seniors' well-being during the pandemic

The study investigates how Malaysian older adults’ life satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic is influenced by their home and neighborhood environments ("first place") and by online social spaces ("online third places"). The pandemic altered seniors’ use and expectations of physical and virtual social spaces, heightening risks of isolation and depression. With increasing reliance on digital communication, the study asks whether supportive residential environments and specific types of online third places contribute to well-being for older adults during periods of movement restrictions. The research articulates three questions on the effects of housing satisfaction, neighborhood characteristics, and online third places on life satisfaction among older adults.

Pre-pandemic research in Asia and the West links better housing and neighborhood conditions to higher well-being among older adults, including work from China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, and Western contexts. Neighborhood walkability elements—accessibility, aesthetics/greenspace, safety, street connectivity, and pedestrian infrastructure—have been associated with physical activity, reduced depression, and greater life satisfaction. Concurrently, online third places such as social media chatrooms, community forums/blogs, instant messaging, online service and learning communities can foster social connectedness and support, potentially mitigating loneliness. However, evidence on their efficacy for seniors during a pandemic is limited, and a persistent digital divide and concerns about safety, usability, and the perceived superficiality of online ties may dampen benefits for older users.

Design and setting: A mixed-methods study was conducted in Klang Valley (Greater Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia—an urbanized region designated a National Key Economic Area—with approximately 20% of residents aged 60+. Sampling and data collection: Purposive sampling targeted active older adults aged 60+. Using the drop-off and pick-up (DOPU) method between May 20, 2021 and March 20, 2022, questionnaires were widely distributed across four districts (Klang, Petaling, Kepong, Wangsa Maju). Of 564 returned surveys (≈36% response of distributed), 500 complete responses were analyzed. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with seven neighborhood leaders (residential association and community club leaders) across the four districts to contextualize and explain quantitative findings. Measures: Life satisfaction was measured with five items adapted from Diener et al. (1985) on a 4-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree to 4=strongly agree). Housing satisfaction was measured with five items (kitchen/washing areas, unit size, bathroom, interior brightness/illumination, housing type) on a 4-point scale (1=very dissatisfied to 4=very satisfied). Neighborhood environment followed Cerin et al. (2006) and included accessibility (4 items), infrastructure for walking/cycling (4 items), safety from crime (2 items), aesthetics (4 items), traffic safety (4 items), and street connectivity (3 items), each rated on 4-point agree-disagree scales. Online third places were operationalized as five categories: social media chatrooms, community forums/blogs, instant messaging apps, online learning/classes, and online service communities. Analysis: A variance-based structural equation modeling approach (PLS-SEM) was used, following Hair et al. Model evaluation included reliability and convergent validity (composite reliability, AVE), discriminant validity (HTMT), multicollinearity checks (VIF), and bootstrapped significance testing with bias-corrected confidence intervals for path coefficients. Measurement model results (e.g., high loadings and satisfactory CR/AVE across constructs) supported construct validity (Tables 1–2). The structural model estimated predictors of life satisfaction and reported standardized betas, standard errors, t-values, p-values, and bootstrapped 95% CIs (Table 3). Qualitative data were coded thematically to illuminate built and social environmental influences on life satisfaction.

Model performance: R² for life satisfaction was 0.671 (adjusted R²=0.655). Significant predictors of higher life satisfaction during the pandemic included: housing satisfaction (β=0.275, SE=0.047, t=5.786, p<0.001, 95% BCI [0.196, 0.354]); neighborhood aesthetics (β=0.230, SE=0.062, t=3.707, p<0.001, 95% BCI [0.133, 0.334]); street connectivity (β=0.103, SE=0.039, t=2.606, p=0.005, 95% BCI [0.043, 0.170]); traffic safety (β=0.155, SE=0.074, t=2.096, p=0.018, 95% BCI [0.044, 0.285]). Infrastructure for walking/cycling showed a significant negative association (β=−0.165, SE=0.067, t=2.472, p=0.007, 95% BCI [−0.282, −0.061]), interpreted as reflecting dissatisfaction with local pedestrian/bicycle infrastructure. Non-significant neighborhood factors included accessibility (β=0.039, p=0.213) and safety from crime (β=−0.021, p=0.316). Among online third places, only instant messaging apps were positively significant (β=0.120, SE=0.055, t=2.182, p=0.015, 95% BCI [0.031, 0.210]); social media chatrooms (β=0.026, p=0.292), community forums/blogs (β=0.028, p=0.286), online learning/classes (β=0.039, p=0.230), and online service communities (β=0.006, p=0.457) were not significant. Thematic interviews echoed quantitative results: seniors emphasized the importance of senior-friendly housing features and green, aesthetically pleasing neighborhoods; they reported inadequate, discontinuous pedestrian/bike networks and concerns about traffic; and they preferred simple, familiar instant messaging for maintaining social ties, while expressing trust, safety, usability, and authenticity concerns about other online platforms.

The findings directly address the research questions. First, stronger housing satisfaction was associated with higher life satisfaction, underscoring the centrality of senior-friendly home design and habitability to support aging in place when time at home increases. Second, certain neighborhood characteristics mattered: aesthetics/greenspace, street connectivity, and traffic safety enhanced well-being, whereas dissatisfaction with pedestrian/bike infrastructure corresponded with lower life satisfaction, likely reflecting poor local provision and limited walkability. Accessibility to amenities and perceived crime safety were not significant during lockdowns, possibly because movement restrictions and risk-avoidance reduced use of local services and public transport. Third, with online third places, only instant messaging showed a positive association, suggesting that simple, widely adopted, and intuitive tools supported social connectedness, whereas social media chatrooms, forums/blogs, online learning, and service communities did not translate into life satisfaction gains for many older adults during the pandemic. Qualitative accounts point to a digital divide, concerns over privacy and scams, low confidence, and a preference for face-to-face interactions, which attenuate potential benefits of more complex online platforms. Together, the results highlight that physical residential environments remain foundational to seniors’ well-being in crises, and that targeted, accessible digital tools can supplement—but not replace—real-world social infrastructures.

This study contributes pandemic-era evidence that both home and neighborhood environments substantially shape Malaysian older adults’ life satisfaction, while most online third places did not, with the exception of instant messaging. The work extends pre-pandemic literature by quantifying built-environment and online social space effects during movement restrictions. Policy and practice implications include: designing and retrofitting housing with senior-friendly features (e.g., safer bathrooms, better illumination); enhancing neighborhood aesthetics/greenspace, connectivity, and traffic safety; and prioritizing user-friendly digital communication training and support for older adults to sustain social connections. Future research should examine longitudinal changes beyond lockdown phases, explore interventions to improve pedestrian/bicycle infrastructure usability, and test digital literacy programs tailored to seniors’ preferences to determine which online community features can effectively foster social support and life satisfaction.

Generalizability is limited by sampling only active, healthy older adults in Klang Valley; findings may not extend to less urban regions or to older adults with limited mobility or higher care needs. The cross-sectional design limits causal inference. Online third place engagement may be underestimated due to digital access and literacy barriers. Future studies should include diverse Malaysian regions and vulnerable subgroups and consider longitudinal designs.