Grant: Emerging Team Grant: Alliances in Mobility in Aging - LOI

Mobility, the ability to move through one's environment without assistance, is a fundamental feature of human functioning. Mobility disability is higher in women than in men. Differences in mobility disability between older men and women are largely unexplained and there is little data on this issue. We aim at better understanding the effects of sex (biological) and gender (social roles and identities) on mobility disability. Lack of physical exercise, poverty, social isolation and living in violent environments or experiencing domestic violence seem to increase the risk of mobility disability. These factors may act through biological pathways of inflammation and excessive response to stress or may induce an accumulation of chronic conditions. Our objectives are: 1) to examine the impact of life experiences on mobility in old age; 2) to increase knowledge on gender specific stress and inflammation responses during aging; 3) to identify sex/gender-specific associations between selected chronic conditions and mobility limitations. We will conduct a longitudinal study of people between 65 and 74 years of age at four sites, in Canada (Ontario and Quebec) and in Latin America (Brazil; Colombia). We will also examine mobility difficulty in nationally representative aging populations collected in 70 countries. Our results will help to place mobility in old age as an important public health issue in Canada and in the international scene. By taking into account the living conditions and resources of elderly people, our results will help to guide gender sensitive public health interventions and clinical best practices to promote and improve mobility. We will work with community partners and elderly people associations at each site to apply the results of this research to practice. We will train young researchers; promote student exchanges between countries; provide financial support for graduate students/post-doctoral