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TRANSPORT AND MOBILITY CONSTRAINTS IN AN AGING POPULATION: health and livelihood implications in rural Tanzania
AbstractThis paper presents findings from a recent study of the transport and mobility constraints faced by older people in 10 settlements in Kibaha district Tanzania. It is concerned, in particular, with the interconnections between transport, health and livelihoods. The study is innovative in two respects: firstly, because it is presents a rare examination of older people's mobility issues in a developing country context; secondly because it draws on an innovative methodology of coinvestigation with older people as peer researchers. The paper demonstrates the diverse ways in which older people's health, livelihoods and access to transport are interconnected, the growing importance of motorcycle-taxi services for rural connectivity, and how the relationality between older people and younger generations contributes to the shaping of mobility patterns.Key words: older people, mobility, transport co-investigation, motorcycle-taxis, generational linkages, Tanzania
IntroductionInterest in aging and mobility has grown substantially in recent years, as a recent special issue editorial in this journal observes (Schwanen, Paez 2010). This paper presents findings from a study of the transport and mobility constraints faced by older people in 10 settlements in Kibaha district Tanzania. It is concerned, in particular, with the interconnections between transport, health and livelihoods. The study is innovative from two perspectives: firstly, because it presents a rare examination of older people's mobility issues in a developing country context 1 , and secondly because it draws on an innovative methodology of co-investigation with older people as peer researchers, within a mixed-method approach. It also draws attention to the implications of older people's transport and mobility constraints for a much wider population.
