Let Older Adults Walk: Measurement Approach to Physical Environment and Neighborhood Walkability for Older Adults

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Understanding the role of the physical environment on walking behavior among older adults is an important goal in many disciplines, but many portions of evaluation of these relationships is yet remains vague and unexplored. The purpose of this study is to create the Senior Walkability Evaluation Checklist for Immediate Neighborhood of Long-term Care Facilities (SWEC-INL) and characterizing the context of walkability within the close neighborhood of the long-term care facility, where high-density of older adults, who certainly require more activities, dwell. Fourteen precedents of environment audit were reviewed for the development of the SWEC-INL. The SWEC-INL assessment was administered to six selected long-term care facilities in Milwaukee area. The results indicate that the walkability scores for most existing neighborhoods of long-term care facilities are not high enough for older adults to walk freely without inconveniences or threats of safety; hence require improvements. Among other sub-categories, accessibility features were least provided in most neighborhoods; and therefore, more attention on accessibility is demanded to accomodate older adults with different physical and/or mental limitations. Further empirical evidences of evaluating the complex relationships between the physical environment and walking is an essential step towards creating active communities.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ⅰ . Introduction
• Ⅱ . Literature Review
• 1. The Physical Environment and Walking
• 2. Checklists as an Assessment Tool
• 3. Walkability Audit
• Ⅲ .Methods
• 1. Developing the Senior Walkability Evaluation Checklist for Immediate Neighborhood of Long-term Care Facilities (SWEC-INL)
• 2. Neighborhood Selection
• 3. Run by non-profit organization.
• 4. Data Collection
• Ⅳ . Results
• 1. Accessibility
• 2. Street Characteristics
• 3. Traffic
• 4. Street Life / Neighborhood Characteristics
• 5. Land Uses / Amenities
• 6. Overall
• Ⅴ . Conclusions
• References