Project Overview

Extensive efforts have been undertaken to motivate older adults to be mobile beyond their homes, which is crucial for their healthy aging. Specifically, efforts to increase confidence in their outdoor mobility have received much attention as confidence is an important prerequisite of actual behavior. However, previous studies have focused only on increasing older adults’ confidence in overall mobility. We suggest focusing on increasing confidence in their mobility in the context of their neighborhoods specifically. By doing so, we can encourage older adults to start by venturing outside their homes and into their neighborhoods, leading to further travels. The more specific their confidence is to the desired task, the more likely they are to undertake it. We found that simple wristband-type biosensors can increase neighborhood-specific mobility confidence. With wristbands collecting stress data from older adults, we can easily draw a neighborhood-wide stressor map that includes locations, pictures, and details of environmental stressors (e.g., steep stairs, uneven sidewalks) in their neighborhoods. The stressor map can allow older adults to preview how they can be mobile with less stress in their neighborhoods, thereby raising their mobility confidence in their neighborhoods. This project significantly contributes to Canadian healthy aging by sparking new socio-cognitive mobility interventions that focus on raising older adults’ neighborhood-specific mobility confidence.