Grant: Emerging Team Grant: Alliances in Mobility in Aging - full application

We aim to promote and enable mobility of older Canadians. We define mobility as the physical capacity of humans to walk or move themselves within their communities. Limited mobility predicts death in older adults and is a consistent risk factor for disability, social exclusion and poor quality of life. There is an increasing body of evidence linking the Built Environment (BE) (individual elements of how towns and cities are designed and the services and amenities they provide) with specific health problems in adults, but very few studies address these questions in seniors. Therefore, we propose research that evaluates how the BE is associated with mobility, social exclusion and quality of life in older adults. We have engaged key stakeholders and continue to partner in an alliance to execute our research and implement and disseminate discoveries, tools and products. This proposal consists of 3 Research Themes. In Theme A, we gather and synthesize the existing knowledge related to our area of focus. In Theme B, we refine and create new tools to evaluate the 'walkability' (pedestrian-friendliness) and 'accessibility' (access to service and amenities) of different neighbourhoods in which older adults live. In Theme C, we evaluate the influence of the built environment on older adults' mobility and quality of life. In addition to these Research Themes, we have a 'key cross-cutting element' relating to knowledge translation and exchange. This refers to generating built environment research outcomes that have impact through creating new products, influencing policy, and effectively promoting mobility in aging.