Background
Methods
Identifying the research questions
Identifying relevant studies
Keywords [strategy: 1 AND 2 AND (3 OR 4)]‡ | 1. Built environment OR neighbourhood OR neighborhood OR environment* design* OR universal design* OR physical environment OR healthy environment OR living environment OR urban environment* OR suburban environment* OR rural environment* OR public transport* OR alternative transport* OR public transit OR paratransit OR bus OR buses OR urban design OR walkability OR walkable OR pedestrian OR social environment OR community design |
2. Elder* OR seniors OR old* adult* OR geriatric OR aged OR ageing OR aging OR older people | |
3. Community participation OR social participation OR social involvement OR social engagement OR community involvement OR community engagement OR civic participation OR social isolation OR social integration OR social contact* OR social activity* OR social inclusion* OR social interaction* OR solitude OR loneliness OR lonely OR social exclusion* | |
4. Mobility OR walking OR active transport* |
Selecting the studies, charting the data, and collating, summarizing and reporting results
Results
Reference number | Country | Setting | Design | Population (sample size; age) | Objective |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
[25] | USA | Suburban | Cross-sectional | 1970; 65+ (65–85+) | To assess the relationship between urban form and walking, driving, physical activity, food access, and weight status in a large sample of older adults responding to a travel survey. |
[27] | Canada USA | Urban | Cross-sectional | 36; 70 | To examine environmental challenges encountered by older adults without mobility impairments while walking in the community. |
[71] | Europe | Urban, rural | Cross-sectional | 761; 65–85+ | To investigate associations between socioeconomic characteristics of the area, perceived neighborhood and indicators of social and physical functioning. |
[72] | USA | Urban | Longitudinal | 1821; 45–92 | To examine adult trajectories of mobility disability over the 15-year study period (1986–2001). |
[86] | Europe | Urban rural suburban | Cross-sectional | 48,879; <65 | To 1) investigate the relationship between area of residence and walking and cycling for transportation and recreation in Flemish older adults, and 2) study the relationship between several physical environmental factors and walking, and cycling and possible moderating effects of area of residence, age and gender. |
[87] | Europe | Urban rural suburban | Qualitative | 21; 82–90 | To describe how very old people experience occupational performance outside the home. |
[88] | Canada | Urban | Cross-sectional | 296 women, 258 men; 75 (67–84) | To examine (1) the association between neighborhood environment, specifically perceived proximity to neighborhood resources, and social participation above and beyond disability; and (2) the moderating effect of this neighborhood variable on the association between disability and social participation in older women and men living in an urban area. |
[89] | USA | Urban | Cross-sectional | 1225; 45–92 | To examine the role of certain characteristics in the urban built environment as they interact with underlying impairments and activity limitations either to promote or hinder the participation of adults in society. |
[90] | Asia | Urban | Cross-sectional | 484; 65–74 | To examine 1) the associations of objectively-measured prevalence and diversity of nine destination categories with overall and within-neighborhood walking for transport in Chinese elders residing in Hong Kong, an ultra-dense metropolis, and 2) the moderating effects of neighborhood safety and pedestrian infrastructure aspects on the above associations. |
[91] | Europe | Urban | Cross-sectional | 4899; 12+ | To investigate whether physical activity is an underlying mechanism in the relationship between the amount of green space in people’s direct living environment and self-perceived health. |
[92] | Canada USA | Urban | Cross-sectional | 54; 70+ | To examine the relationship between characteristics of the physical environment and mobility disability in community-living older persons. |
[93] | Canada | Urban | Qualitative | 486; 20–75+ | To assess group perceptions regarding ease of movement in a town centre and accessibility to premises. |
[94] | Canada | Urban | Cross-sectional | 2614; 45+ | To examine the association between neighborhood active living potential and walking among middle aged and older adults. |
[95] | USA | Urban | Cross-sectional | 582; 64–94 | To explore the influence of neighborhood-level characteristics on elderly physical activity. |
[96] | USA | Urban | Cross-sectional | 546; 65+ | To examine the relationship between objectively measured characteristics of the local neighborhood and walking activity among community-dwelling older adults in Portland, Oregon. |
[97] | USA | Urban | Cross-sectional | 1195; 45–92 | To examine the effect of block-level built environment characteristics on mobility disability among adults aged 45 and over who vary in their level of lower extremity physical impairment. |
[98] | Canada | Urban | Cross-sectional | 60; 65+ | To examine the associations between walking behavior and the perceived environment and personal factors among older adults living in a downtown neighborhood of a midsized Prairie city. |
[99] | Canada USA | Urban | Qualitative | 66; 65+ | To identify neighborhood social and physical environmental aspects that influence older adults’ physical activity. |
[101] | USA | Urban suburban | Cross-sectional | 251; 65+ | To explore the ability of neighborhood design to preserve accessibility for the elderly by enabling a shift from driving to transit and walking, while controlling for neighborhood preferences and attitudes towards transportation. |
[102] | Canada | Urban suburban | Qualitative | 75; 65 | To understand older people’s neighborhood walking experiences with an emphasis on daily life. |
[105] | USA | Not reported | Qualitative | 60; 55+ | To answer the research question: How does neighborhood design encourage or inhibit active aging according to older adults? |
[106] | Canada | Not reported | Cross-sectional | 200; 65+ | To examine the effect of the environment on participation while controlling for the individual’s personal factors |
[107] | USA | Urban | Qualitative | 7; 55+ | To identify the strategies used to create and maintain social participation for older adults living alone in the community, and explore older adults’ own perceptions of their experience of social participation. |
[108] | USA | Urban | Longitudinal | 217; 70+ | To examine the longitudinal relationship between perceived neighborhood climate and walking behavior, over a 12-month period |
[109] | Asia | Urban | Cross-sectional | 484; 65–74 | To examine associations of perceived neighborhood environmental attributes believed to influence walking with overall and within-neighborhood recreational walking in a sample of Chinese elders residing in an ultra-dense metropolis with a developed public transport system (Hong Kong). |
[110] | Europe | Rural suburban | Qualitative | 42; 65–79 | To obtain a qualitative assessment of the opinions of the elderly living in rural areas regarding their leisure and recreational habits. |
[111] | Brazil | Not reported | Cross-sectional | 1652; 60+ | To evaluate the association between safety from crime and physical activity among older adults |
[112] | Europe | Urban | Longitudinal | 261; 75–81 | To identify the effect of environmental facilitators for outdoor walking on development of walking difficulty in community-dwelling older people. |
[113] | Europe | Not reported | Qualitative | 957; 81.7 | To describe older people’s motive for and experiences of mobility and occupational participation outside the home. |
[114] | USA | Urban | Qualitative | 21; 60+ | To identify the salient factors of the neighborhood environment that encourage or discourage walking in older, urban African Americans. |
[115] | Canada | Urban suburban | Longitudinal | 521; 67–84 | To examine whether or not closer proximity to local services and amenities was associated with maintenance of more frequent walking over time among urban-dwelling seniors over and above individual-level characteristics. |
[116] | Asia | Urban rural suburban | Cross-sectional | 1921; 65–74 | To examine the association between perceived neighborhood environment and walking for specific purposes among Japanese elderly adults. |
[117] | USA | Not reported | Longitudinal | 438; 65+ | To examine participation in 2 areas: (1) social and home participation, which is related to self-care and domestic functioning, financial functioning, social relationships, and communication; and (2) community participation, which reflects participation related to a person’s mobility, functioning in work, and other ADLs. |
[118] | USA | Urban | Cross-sectional | 91; 68.7 (64–91) | To explore the possibility that older adult’s exposure to green common spaces is related to an increased sense of local community because of enhanced levels of social integration. |
[119] | USA | Urban | Longitudinal | 303; 65+ | To examine change in neighborhood walking activity over a 12-month period in a community-based sample. |
[120] | USA | Urban | Cross-sectional | 577; 74 | To examine the relation between built environment factors and walking activity at both the neighbourhood level and the resident level, in an older adult population. |
[121] | Europe | Urban rural | Cross-sectional | 90 neighborhoods; 45–73 | To analyze the impact of the neighborhood on individual social capital. |
[122] | Canada | Urban rural | Qualitative | 22; 76 (60–90) | To examine environmental factors influencing the walking choices of elderly people. |
[123] | Canada | Suburban | Qualitative | 22; 62–89 | To 1) illustrate participants’ typical day in order to identify changes since 1999, that is, the strategies of ‘déprise’ (abandonment) and their impact on daily mobility; 2) reveal the experiences and meanings of “home” in light of changes in daily mobility during a six-year period, and with regards to elders’ representations of the city and of aging; 3) shed light on individual reasons behind territorial mobility adaptation strategies and describe the relationship of elderly to the broader urban environment. |
[124] | USA | Urban | Cross-sectional | 4317; 65+ | To examine individual differences in walking behavior among community-dwelling older adults in relation to two features of the neighborhood environment—social cohesion and exchange, and neighborhood disorder. |
[125] | USA | Urban | Cross-sectional | 105; 65+ | To examine the degree of association between perceived and objective characteristics of the neighborhood environment and the relation of each type of measurement to neighborhood walking in older adults. |
[126] | USA | Urban suburban | Cross-sectional | 372; 70+ | To explore the relationship between pedestrian-friendly urban form as reflected in new urbanism design guidelines, and neighborhood service use, walking, driving, quality of life, and neighborhood satisfaction among older women. |
[127] | Canada | Urban | Cross-sectional | 282; 58+ | To investigate the relationship between perceptions of neighbourhood user-friendliness and social participation. |
[128] | Canada | Urban | 520; 67–84 | To examine the associations between proximity to selected locations considered to be conducive to social participation, and social participation itself, in urban-dwelling seniors. | |
[129] | USA | Urban | Qualitative | 37; 55+ | To determine perceptions of environmental supports for and barriers to walking and biking behavior in older adults and to evaluate whether perceptions differed by defined neighborhood walkability. |
[130] | Canada | Not reported | Cross-sectional | 350; 65+ | To compare participation of older adults according to the level of urbanization of their home environment, and to explore sociodemographic factors associated with participation in relation to the urbanization level of their environment. |
[131] | Europe | Urban | Qualitative | 24; 55–87 (mean 75) | To explore the behavior and representations of seniors concerning doing physical activities to identify obstacles to going out and walking, their need to overcome these obstacles over the long term, and communication channels to disseminate information about a walking route (translation). |
[132] | Europe | Urban suburban | Qualitative | 57; 65+ | To identify the perceived environmental influences on Flemish older adults’ walking for transportation. |
[133] | USA | Not reported | Cross-sectional | 436; 65+ (mean 70.4) | To explore the association of particular features of neighborhood environments with disability among older adults with existing functional limitations. |
[134] | USA | Urban suburban | Qualitative | 38; 62–85 | To understand how older adults perceive and navigate their neighborhoods, the study looked at the implications of activity in their neighborhoods for their health to identify the types of resources that people use in their residential settings to maintain or improve their overall well-being. |
Environment | Mobility | Social participation |
---|---|---|
Chapter 1: Product
*
and technology
| ||
e120: Products and technology for personal indoor and outdoor mobility and transportation
| ||
Mobility assistive device | ||
e125: Products for communication
| ||
Communication technology | +[113] | |
e140: Products and technology for culture, recreation and sport
| ||
Absence of parks and walking areas | −[111] | −[133] |
Community gardens | +[99] | +[99] |
Space for socialisation | +[87] | |
e150: Design, construction and building products and technology of buildings for public use
| ||
Absence of high ramps | 0[132] | |
Adequate handicap parking | +[123] | |
Buildings difficult to access | −†[93] | |
Escalators, curbs and uneven surfaces | 0‡/–§[92] | |
Parking | ||
Public facilities | ||
Seating | ||
Toilet facilities adequate for persons with disabilities | +[93] | |
Universally accessible public spaces | +[123] | |
Washrooms | ||
Water fountains | ||
e155: Design, construction and building products and technology of buildings for private use
| ||
Easy access of residential entrance | 0[109] | |
Home architectural mobility barriers | −††[117] | |
e160: Products and technology of land development
| ||
Aesthetics‡‡ | ||
Bad condition of sidewalks | +[114] | |
Bridge/overpasses connecting to services | +[109] | |
Crossing | ||
Dispersion of resources | −[110] | |
Fence separating sidewalks from traffic | 0[109] | |
Few streets | −[96] | |
Good condition of streets/path | ||
Good quality of facilities | +[71] | |
Good user-friendliness of the walking environment | ||
Indoor shopping areas | +[114] | |
Mixed services and good pedestrian access | +[126] | |
No curbs with curb cuts | 0[133] | |
Uninviting neighborhood surroundings | -[114] | |
Poor user-friendliness of the walking environment | ||
Poorly maintained or missing sidewalks, crosswalks, bike paths or lanes | −[129] | |
Garbage | −[111] | |
Proximity to recreational/exercise facilities | ||
Relocation of community services and shops | ||
Resources proximity | ||
Rural > urban | +***[101] | |
Safe stairs | +[99] | |
Sidewalks | +[105] | |
Streets connectivity | ||
Streets in poor condition | ||
Streets with traffic lights and busy streets | 0‡**/−††[92] | |
Traffic and road hazards | 0[109] | |
Traffic lights located at inconvenient spots | −[122] | |
Unfamiliar places | 0‡**/−††§[92] | |
Urban > rural | +†‡‡[101] | |
Urban > semi-urban > rural | +[110], 0[130] | |
Walking/cycling facilities | ||
e165: Assets
| ||
Packages carried | −[27] | |
Chapter 2: Natural environment and human-made changes to environment
| ||
e210: Physical geography
| ||
Topography physically demanding | −[113] | |
e215: Population
| ||
Crowded places with high traffic density | 0‡**/−††§[92] | |
Living in prosperous areas | +[71] | |
Low level of traffic | +[101] | |
Low Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status | ||
Neighborhood | +[121] | |
Population density | 0[72], 0[109], 0[116], +[120] | |
Seniors density | ||
Traffic | ||
White people density | +[95] | |
e220: Flora and fauna
| ||
Animals | −/+2[114] | |
Stray animals | −[90] | |
Lack of greenery | −[131] | |
Nature and green space | +[118] | |
e225: Climate
| ||
Poor weather conditions | −[113] | |
e240: Light
| ||
Inadequate street lighting | ||
Street lighting | ||
e245: Time-related changes
| ||
Night time | −[113] | −[113] |
e250: Sound
| ||
Absence of noise | +[132] | |
e260: Air quality
| ||
Fresh air | +[114] | |
Open sewers | 0[111] | |
Smoke pollution | 0[111] | |
Chapter 3: Support and relationships
| ||
e310: Immediate family
| ||
Support from family | ||
e320: Friends
| ||
Support from friends | +[123] | |
e325: Acquaintances, peers, colleagues, neighbors and community members
| ||
Children living in the neighborhood | −[115] | 0[128] |
Lack of social support | −[113] | −[113] |
People | ||
Social cohesion | ||
Social support/network | ||
Walking partner | +[102] | |
e345: Stranger
| ||
Crowdedness | ||
e350: Domesticated animals
| ||
Not having or not walking a dog | −[111] | |
Chapter 4: Attitudes
| ||
e445: Individual attitudes of strangers
| ||
Drivers’ respect for pedestrians on crossings | 0[111] | |
Negative attitude of people | −[87] | −[87] |
Disrespectful attitude of bus drivers | −[113] | −[113] |
e460: Societal attitudes
| ||
Poor walking culture & sidewalk etiquette | −[102] | |
Chapter 5: Services, systems and policies
| ||
e515: Architecture and construction services, systems and policies
| ||
Architectural features that facilitate social contacts | +[108] | |
e525: Housing services, systems and policies
| ||
Retirement home/housing facilities | +[123] | +[123] |
e540: Transportation services, systems and policies
| ||
Car or driver’s license | ||
Inadequate public transportation | ||
No or only one car for the dwelling | ||
Protection and comfort at bus stops | +[93] | |
Public transport | ||
Transportation facilitators | +[117] | |
e545: Civil protection services, systems and policies
| ||
Graffiti | ||
Neighborhood security | ||
Neighborhood insecurity | ||
Traffic-related safety | +[89] | |
Traffic-related insecurity | −[129] | |
e555: Associations and organizational services, systems and policies
| ||
Community-based programs | +[99] | |
e560: Media services, systems and policies
| ||
Virtual and media-related mobility | −[113] | −[113] |
e580: Health services, systems and policies
| ||
Promotion of sports and/or walking events | 0[111] |