Mobility walk linked with aging: practice, behaviours and specific needs for the elderly
Résumé
The objective of this communication is to present the main results of the research project MAPISE, entitled "Seniors at walk, a sustainable way of moving?" (La marche à pied pour les séniors, un mode de déplacement durable ?), financed by the Research Program on Innovation in Ground Transport, which ended in 2014. The research on three urban sites in the metropolitan area of Lille (North of France) was conducted by three research institutions: the research laboratoire "Space, nature and cultures" (co-financed by the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and U. Paris-Sorbonne), the Québec National Institute for Scientific Research (INRS), and the French Institute for Sciences and Technologies of transport, Network management and development (IFSTTAR). Based principally on a vast survey, additional informations was gathered through:
1) A non-participating observations of pedestrians of all the ages in situations of crossing the street; they were then met on an special sidewalk in order to get their age and other information;
2) A detailed and precise mapping of all pedestrians' follow-ups through a specific Geographical Information system (SIG) program;
3) An evaluation and the mapping of the walking potential of the three urban sites.
The results show that in spite of a decreasing mobility over the years, older people walk most of the time to move around the city. However, for people over 75 years old, we observed a decrease in the frequency of movements (all modes of transport included), an increase in the risk of accidents, as well as the largest number of falls in the public space. As for crossing pattern, without much surprise we found that careful and rule-abiding behavior increases with age. Indeed, older pedestrians put into place compensation strategies to their declining physical abilities, such as no rush or run when approaching the crossing path, and while crossing; wait for the green light on the sidewalk, rather than in the street; look at the ground before crossing, rather checking the traffic.
On the walking potential of the studied urban sites, we proceeded out of a "walkability" index we created based on the existing scientific literature. It distinguishes several limitations to walking practices, most notably, the presence or absence of obstacles on the road, its unevenness, the absence of benches, the remoteness of businesses, insufficient lighting, the fear of being pushed or knocked down, the fear of bad encounters, and the feeling of insecurity.
Globally, the study revealed, for walking practices by the elderly, a strong correlation between the comfort and safety of urban spaces, which puts into light the difference, or even oppose, the well-maintained main streets to the secondary streets with narrow sidewalks and poor pavements, sometimes in slope. The walkability audit we held highlighted several elements that would favor movement by seniors in terms of safety, of walking balance and of crossing easiness: that is, narrower crossing paths, decongestion of sidewalks, and quality of pavements that allows a comfortable walk.
In the end, much more than age, the health factor presides over people's choice of the ways they move within the urban space. Walking becomes a favored ways of moving at an age it turns out to be the most difficult to implement, because of the physical and possible psychic declines. In this, we can identify two sub-groups within the heterogeneous population of the elderly. For one, seniors exhibit similar mobility pattern and behavior than the average healthy adults. In the second, we find elderly moving with difficulties. Within the MAPISE project, and survey, walking as a way of moving to be promoted appears to be of little interest for older people. However, walking has become more than a simple way mode moving, it is a way a way of "being in town", and to be alive!
In closing, we would like to suggest that future studies on the mobility of the elderly should preferably target a population in situation of fragility that has not yet suffered a loss of autonomy, but has started to deal with the burden of ageing.
Origine : Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)