A Cross-Sectional Survey on Older Adults’ Community Mobility in an Indian Metropolis

Abstract

Community mobility supports occupational participation among older adults and promotes active ageing. This study aimed to explore community mobility of older adults within an urban Indian context in view of the limited available literature in this area. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on a convenience sample of 75 older adults residing in Chennai city using a questionnaire and a non-retrospective, open format, two-day time diary. Participants engaged in community mobility and activities outside home for 10% of time over two days. Activities and roles related to religious and spiritual activities and expression, social participation, leisure and informal personal education participation occupied most time and were engaged in most frequently. Walking was the most frequently used mode of transportation and participants reported numerous road-related hazards (lack of proper pavements, disobedience of traffic rules, difficulty crossing roads, crowded roads, and poor condition of roads). Participants used public transport less often. Public transport-related barriers (difficulty boarding and alighting buses/trains due to high steps/insufficient time, inadequate seat reservation for older adults, overcrowding and increased expense on auto rickshaws/taxis) were also expressed as concerns. Participants linked their ability to use public transport with independence and assigned relatively less value to driving. The findings emphasize the significance of community mobility to promote participation in older adults and recommend age-friendly environments in Indian cities.

Factors Preventing the Use of Alternative Transport Modes to the Car in Later Life

“…The main problems identified by the older population are linked to boarding and alighting from vehicles [88]. The ability to get on and off, as well as sometimes having to stand, are seen as key reasons for the lack of public transport usage [23,47,50,51,53,63,68,69,77]. Despite improvements to accessibility including the introduction of low-floor buses, there are a variety of obstacles that hinder the less mobile.…”

“…Poor vehicular design leading to overcrowding as well as lack of personal space, toilet facilities, room for heavy shopping and amount and position of handrails are frequently mentioned as factors affecting comfort [5,43,51,52,56,58,68,77,84,85,103]. Similarly, lack of or unsuitable bus shelters that do not provide adequate seating and shelter from adverse weather conditions at all times are factors affecting public transport usage [51,52,54,[68][69][70]85].…”

“…The former produces a dispersion of services and activities beyond a reasonable walking and cycling distance [2], the latter a divisive effect on residential areas [118]. Crossing the road in later life is particularly affected by community severance and road traffic issues, due to traffic volumes, speed, noise and pollutant emissions [48,55,62,77,79,87]. Asher et al (2012) found that 84% of older men and 93% of older women were not able to cross streets safely as their walking speed was not fast enough to cross the road in time.…”

“…The design of pedestrian/cycling environments was also identified as a barrier for walking and cycling. Poor quality of footpaths, (size, width and presence of steps), broken or uneven pavements, lack of footpath networks and resting places (e.g., benches), toilets in public spaces, cars and scooter parked on, or obstructing, sidewalks and shared walking/cycling environments were found to be the most reported issues [2,38,55,56,58,67,71,73,74,[77][78][79]119]. In this sense, an additional barrier found in studies from Northern countries is the presence of snow or ice along the pathway during the winter season [64].…”

“…The safety of older pedestrians and cyclists is also compromised by fear of sharing roads with car users. Apart from the fear of being involved in accidents, older people complain about the behavior of other road users [77]. Oxley, Corben, Fildes and Charlton [117] highlight the fact that roads are mainly designed for car traffic and driver attitudes fail to acknowledge the rights of other users.…”