Understanding the Role of the Built Environment for Older Adult Mobility using Mobile Technology

With a social scientist, a geriatrician, and an architect, this interdisciplinary cube will advance our understanding of the features in the built physical environment that impede or enhance independent mobility among urban-dwelling older adults. Using a state-of-the art mobile motion monitoring system coupled with mobile GPS and travel diaries, we will study walking motion and intensity in older adults' own environment as they encounter (or avoid) specific built environment features (e.g. discontinuous sidewalks, ramps, tactile pavement, and curb cuts). We will integrate mobile data uploaded to a central computer with subjective responses gathered during a neighborhood walking interview. Our sample will also include older adults who use different mobility devices (e.g. cane, walker, wheelchair) so that we can understand how different devices interact with different environmental features to impede or promote mobility.