Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

The mobility of older adults (their ability to move around their community) can be greatly limited by a poorly designed built environment (BE). Broadly speaking, the BE often refers to the macro-scale environment -how communities are designed, accounting for land use and transportation systems. I will also evaluate less studied elements of the micro-scale environment (e.g benches, lighting) that impact older adults' propensity to move around their neighbourhoods. Limited mobility is a risk factor for disability, cognitive impairment, and social isolation and is associated with an increased risk of admission to residential care and mortality. Thus, maintaining mobility in older age is an important part of healthy aging. Therefore, the objectives of my study are to; 1. determine the association between the BE and the mobility of older adults and, 2. determine the association between BEs and the self-reported health status of older adults. Participants will be randomly selected from neighborhoods across Metro Vancouver that range in the degree to which they are favorable to pedestrians (walkability). I will evaluate participants' mobility using accelerometers, global positioning systems, and travel diaries. I will use a self-report questionnaire (the EQ-5D) to assess participants' self-rated health status. I will compare participants' mobility and health outcomes across a range of neighborhood walkability. My ultimate goal is to enable older adults to maintain their functional independence and enhance their mobility and health by better understanding those elements of the BE that support or hinder their mobility.