Assessing accessibility to service facilities for older people in age-restricted communities from the perspective of equity

Abstract

IntroductionAccessibility to service facilities has a significant influence on seniors’ well-being and quality of life. Geospatial examination of access to these facilities for age-restricted communities as a popular residential option for older people is essential for better understanding potential inequity in accessibility and making relevant decisions more reasonably. MethodsThis study develops a set of methods for assessing and analyzing age-restricted accessibility to service facilities by a combined transport mode. The traditional and improved cumulative opportunity measures are utilized to measure accessibility to facilities by walking and by public transit, respectively. Comprehensive accessibility is evaluated by means of a weighted sum model based on relative accessibility to each type of facility. Disparities of (comprehensive) accessibility to service facilities are compared by adopting coefficient of variance, in terms of various transport modes and communities with different lifestyles. Results and conclusionsAccessibility to some facilities (e.g., shopping centers, recreation facilities, and grocery stores) is improved significantly after older people combine public transit instead of only depending on walking. Older adults in independent living communities tend to have better access to service facilities, which is revealed in accessibility to each type of facility and comprehensive accessibility. There are disparities in age-restricted community accessibility, but the difference degree is varying among different types of facilities. Also, the rank of comprehensive accessibility among these communities experiences great changes after integrating the two transport modes. These findings can provide insight into which communities lack or have limited opportunities for a certain type of facility and how service resources for older people are allocated in consideration of equity. More research is required to understand the importance degree of facilities influences accessibility evaluation of communities at different stages, optimize service distribution and provision, and determine effective strategies to select locations of future age-friendly communities.