Abstract

This paper has re-analysed and compared data between three studies conducted in the United Kingdom and in Sweden (the OPUS 'Older People's Use of Unfamiliar Space' study in the United Kingdom and the Swedish studies 'Let's Go for a Walk' and 'Walking in Old Age') to provide a comprehensive account of the issues facing older people in the outdoor environment. All three studies draw on the 'fit' between the person and their environment as a guiding conceptual base - capturing the dynamics of the relationship between older people's personal needs and their wider environmental context. This common conceptual base allowed us to test theory against practice, and to explore the utility of this concept across different geographical contexts. Participatory research was also applied, highlighting the importance of the voice of older people and involving older people in research. The studies also used a mixed-method approach involving both quantitative and qualitative methods. The paper highlights that although not generalisable, you can compare cross-locales and cross-nationally using different methodology; it investigates the challenges of cross-national comparative analysis and draws on findings from the three studies to illustrate the different challenges and solutions and finally looks at lessons that are transferable.

Highlights

  • The outdoor environment is an increasingly important area of study within gerontology

  • The importance of green areas such as gardens and parks, wilderness areas and rural vistas have increasingly been recognised as important for people’s health and wellbeing (Ward Thompson, Roe and Aspinall ). This is true of green urban areas (Ward Thompson et al ), in this paper we address the built urban environment

  • One of the primary aims of this paper is to explore how different research questions and methods of researching older people in the context of their local outdoor environment can highlight the difficulties, challenges and advantages of using different methodologies to compare findings from three studies in two country contexts

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Summary

Introduction

The outdoor environment is an increasingly important area of study within gerontology. The importance of green areas such as gardens and parks, wilderness areas and rural vistas have increasingly been recognised as important for people’s health and wellbeing (Ward Thompson, Roe and Aspinall ). This is true of green urban areas (Ward Thompson et al ), in this paper we address the built urban environment. Adapting outdoor environments to the needs and preferences of older people is a critical safety factor in terms of preventing falls (Li et al ; Ståhl and Berntman )

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