The Role of Transport and Mobility in the Health of Older People

The world’s population is aging. Older people are healthier and more active than previous generations. Living in a hypermobile world, people want to stay connected to dispersed communities as they age. Staying connected to communities and social networks enables older people to contribute and connect with society and is associated with positive mental and physical health, facilitating independence and physical activity while reducing social isolation. Changes in physiology and cognition associated with later life mean longer journeys may have to be curtailed. A shift in focus is needed to fully explore older people, transport and health; a need to be multidisciplinary in approach and to embrace social sciences and arts and humanities. A need to embrace different types of mobilities is needed for a full understanding of aging, transport and health, moving from literal or corporeal through virtual and potential to imaginative mobility, taking into account aspirations and emotions. Mobility in later life is more than a means of getting to destinations and includes more affective or emotive associations. Cycling and walking are facilitated not just by improving safety but through social and cultural norms. Car driving can be continued safely in later life if people make appropriate and informed decisions about when and how to stop driving; stringent testing of driver ability and skill has as yet had little effect on safety. Bus use facilitates physical activity and keeps people connected but there are concerns for the future viability of buses. The future of transport may be more community led and involve more sharing of transport modes.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2015.02.001
• Record URL:
  • http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140515000043
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/22141405
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Musselwhite, Charles
  • Holland, Carol
  • Walker, Ian
• Publication Date: 2015-3

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: References;
• Pagination: pp 1-4
• Serial:
  • Journal of Transport & Health
  • Volume: 2
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 2214-1405
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/22141405

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aged drivers; Bicycling; Highway safety; Mobility; Psychological aspects; Social factors; Transportation modes; Walking
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Society; I20: Design and Planning of Transport Infrastructure; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01559998
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 7 2015 11:41AM