Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Background & Aims: Research shows that people who went to school and worked in a job that paid well are healthier than those who did not. We decided to find out if older adults who went to school and worked in a job that paid well have better mobility than those who did not. We also give information that healthcare workers can use to decide how older adults move inside and outside of their homes and around their communities Methods: We looked at five different records of literature. We reviewed English language research papers that were online between the year 2000-2018. Two of us looked at the studies and agreed to include any paper that talked about older adults' income, education level, and occupation (job) and how it affects how they move around either by walking, using transportation or any assistive device (e.g. wheelchair). Results: We included 36 studies from eleven countries. Thirty-four of the 36 studies are good quality studies. We found 68 statistical summaries of how better education and working in a well-paying job affected how older adults move around. Out of the 68 summaries, 55 (81%) stated better educated and wealthier older adults move around their home and communities better. We also found that assessing older adults walking over long distances ( e.g. 400m or 800m) considers many things that support mobility (e.g. endurance, power, speed). Conclusion: Better educated older adults who worked in well-paying jobs move better than those did not. Healthcare worker that want to look at how an older adult walks about in their home or community, should ask the older adult to walk a longer distance (e.g. 400m or 800m) during testing.