Abstract
In Canada, older adults will soon outnumber children, and there will be a greater increase in the proportion of adults over age 80 than any other age group. Maintaining one’s mobility is considered the best guarantee of older adults being able to cope and remain in their homes and communities. There is clear evidence that neighbourhoods, communities and social networks where older adults live, directly affect their mobility and health.
In this panel presentation, we draw on our community based research across four interconnected programs of inquiry to 1: highlight the need to move beyond the ‘instrumental/functional’ understanding of mobility to explore what conveys meaning for older people, particularly in public urban environments; 2: describe the physical activity implications of a newly developed Greenway among older adults living in a highly walkable urban environment; 3: emphasize the importance of evaluating implementation of a physical activity intervention delivered at-scale across BC, and 4: describe the impact of a scaled-up physical activity intervention on dimensions of older adults’ physical and social health.This session will be of particular interest to those who work with an aging population and social and urban planners who work across the age spectrum to design inclusive communities for people of all abilities. To animate our discussion we will use a series of short (2–3 minute) video vignettes (produced by our team) to foreground the voices and experiences of older adults.