Environmental, Individual and Personal Goal Influences on Older Adults' Walking in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.

Tiina Laatikainen,Mohammad Haybatollahi,Marketta Kyttä

doi:10.3390/ijerph16010058

Abstract

Physical activity is a fundamental factor in healthy ageing, and the built environment has been linked to individual health outcomes. Understanding the linkages between older adult’s walking and the built environment are key to designing supportive environments for active ageing. However, the variety of different spatial scales of human mobility has been largely overlooked in the environmental health research. This study used an online participatory mapping method and a novel modelling of individual activity spaces to study the associations between both the environmental and the individual features and older adults’ walking in the environments where older adult’s actually move around. Study participants (n = 844) aged 55+ who live in Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Finland reported their everyday errand points on a map and indicated which transport mode they used and how frequently they accessed the places. Respondents walking trips were drawn from the data and the direct and indirect effects of the personal, psychological as well as environmental features on older adults walking were examined. Respondents marked on average, six everyday errand points and walked for transport an average of 20 km per month. Residential density and the density of walkways, public transit stops, intersections and recreational sports places were significantly and positively associated with older adult’s walking for transport. Transit stop density was found having the largest direct effect to older adults walking. Built environment had an independent effect on older adults walking regardless of individual demographic or psychological features. Education and personal goals related to physical activities had a direct positive, and income a direct negative, effect on walking. Gender and perceived health had an indirect effect on walking, which was realized through individuals’ physical activity goals.

Highlights

Extensive evidence exists that physical activity (PA) has notable health benefits for older adults [1,2,3,4].In addition, maintaining mobility—one’s ability to move around and take care of everyday activities—is a fundamental factor in healthy aging [5,6]
We studied the associations between the personal, psychological and the environmental features and older adults walking
We examined the direct effects of the personal, psychological as well as environmental features on older adults walking as well as the indirect influences of environmental and personal characteristics through psychological features, namely individuals’ personal goals

Summary

Introduction

Extensive evidence exists that physical activity (PA) has notable health benefits for older adults [1,2,3,4].In addition, maintaining mobility—one’s ability to move around and take care of everyday activities—is a fundamental factor in healthy aging [5,6]. Extensive evidence exists that physical activity (PA) has notable health benefits for older adults [1,2,3,4]. Research has shown that active travel (AT), namely walking and cycling, has health benefits across population even after adjustment for other forms of PA [7]. In their recent review, Cerin and colleagues [8] found strong links between the neighborhood physical environment and older adults’ AT. It is of prime importance to ensure that older adults can sustain mobility in their everyday environments. Public Health 2019, 16, 58; doi:10.3390/ijerph16010058 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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