| Sumario: | Purpose The mobility of older people is linked with a variety of complex determinants (Hopkins & Tarrant, 2012) that may influence their travel behavior and experiences (Rahman et al., 201 6), including health, socio-demographics and contextual factors (Webber et al., 2010). The mobility patterns of older people are changing as compared to the past. By using technology, their specific mobility needs could be determined, and policies could be made accordingly to make cities more age friendly. This manuscript describes the methodology of a participatory research design, using a crowd-sourcing tool and focus group discussions for determining the complex influencing factors of older people's mobility; which can be used for evidence-based policy-making by municipalities to make their cities age-friendly. Method First, a detailed questionnaire for elderly was designed (divided into four main sections, i.e., socio-demographic, health conditions, mobility and usage of smartphone) to determine the complex determinants leading to mobility problems. Next, focus groups in different municipalities comprising of elderly volunteers (aged 60 or above), municipal officials and members of the senior advisory board were invited to prioritize the problems identified from the survey, and to comment on the first crowd-sourcing prototype made for data collection. The prioritization of actions (based on the prioritized mobility problems) will be made by consensus of those members in these sessions. In the third step, an elderly-friendly crowd-sourcing tool is developed in the form of a smartphone mobility application, by which elderly can give specific information about problematic situations on geo-coordinated locations, as well as the influence of environmental or other factors. This application indicates the mobility problems of older people to the municipal officials in their region. Specific action plans like lane marking, segregation of fast- and slow-moving traffic etc., will be linked to the indicated problems, to optimize the decision-making process and to facilitate the course of actions for municipal officials. Results and Discussion 164 participants of age 60 and above, mostly living in towns (2nd degree of urbanization), using mostly cars as mode of transport, frequently using smartphone mobiles in their daily routines, and having a good health status (mostly having no walking limitations and not using mobility assistive devices) in general indicated their satisfaction level on different mobility situations in Flanders, Belgium while taking into account World Health Organization Age-friendly mobility checklist. This approach can be used as a model to implement successful practices of age-friendly policies regarding mobility in different municipalities in a region.
|
|---|