IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v338y2023ics027795362300686x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What the pandemic and its impact on the mobility and well-being of older people can teach us about age-friendly cities and communities

Author

Listed:
  • Naughton, Linda
  • Cunha, Francisco
  • Padeiro, Miguel
  • Santana, Paula

Abstract

From the start of the pandemic, questions were raised concerning how the pandemic could change or even transform relationships to our living environments. COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on the health and well-being of older people due to the increased risk of severity of the disease with both advancing age and associated co-morbidities. Restrictions on the movement of older people have also been more severe, with many countries imposing restrictions based on chronological age. In Portugal, confinement measures were targeted at older persons in terms of sheltering-at-home orders for those over 70. This paper looks at the impact of these restrictions on the lives of older people and asks what we can learn from the pandemic about the concept of age-friendly cities (WHO, 2007a). We look at the lived experience of older people to understand how their well-being and mobility were impacted during the crisis and its aftermath. The study was undertaken in four urban areas: Aveiro, Coimbra, Lisbon, and Faro. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews analysed using a process of thematic coding based on the eight pillars of the WHO's Age-Friendly City Checklist (WHO, 2007b). The results are discussed using conceptualisations from the new mobilities paradigm: existential mobility, connection and (im)mobility governance, offering new ways of thinking about age-friendliness in and out of crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Naughton, Linda & Cunha, Francisco & Padeiro, Miguel & Santana, Paula, 2023. "What the pandemic and its impact on the mobility and well-being of older people can teach us about age-friendly cities and communities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 338(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:338:y:2023:i:c:s027795362300686x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116329
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027795362300686X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116329?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Burnett, Pat & Lucas, Susan, 2010. "Talking, walking, riding and driving: The mobilities of older adults," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 596-602.
    2. Tim Cresswell, 2021. "Valuing mobility in a post COVID-19 world," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 51-65, January.
    3. Susanne Nordbakke & Tim Schwanen, 2014. "Well-being and Mobility: A Theoretical Framework and Literature Review Focusing on Older People," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 104-129, February.
    4. Vincent Kaufmann & Manfred Max Bergman & Dominique Joye, 2004. "Motility: mobility as capital," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 745-756, December.
    5. Noel B. Salazar, 2021. "Existential vs. essential mobilities: insights from before, during and after a crisis," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 20-34, January.
    6. Karolina Doughty & Lesley Murray, 2016. "Discourses of Mobility: Institutions, Everyday Lives and Embodiment," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(2), pages 303-322, April.
    7. Judith Phillips & Nigel Walford & Ann Hockey & Leigh Sparks, 2021. "Older People, Town Centres and the Revival of the ‘High Street’," Planning Theory & Practice, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 11-26, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jean Ryan, 2020. "Examining the Process of Modal Choice for Everyday Travel Among Older People," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-19, January.
    2. Franz Buhr & Jennifer McGarrigle, 2017. "Navigating Urban Life in Lisbon: A Study of Migrants’ Mobilities and Use of Space," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(4), pages 226-234.
    3. Timothée Cuignet & Camille Perchoux & Geoffrey Caruso & Olivier Klein & Sylvain Klein & Basile Chaix & Yan Kestens & Philippe Gerber, 2020. "Mobility among older adults: Deconstructing the effects of motility and movement on wellbeing," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(2), pages 383-401, February.
    4. De Vos, Jonas & Witlox, Frank, 2017. "Travel satisfaction revisited. On the pivotal role of travel satisfaction in conceptualising a travel behaviour process," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 364-373.
    5. Yu, Shaolu, 2016. "“I am like a deaf, dumb and blind person”: Mobility and immobility of Chinese (im)migrants in Flushing, Queens, New York City," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 10-21.
    6. Catherine Bigonnesse & Habib Chaudhury, 2022. "Ageing in place processes in the neighbourhood environment: a proposed conceptual framework from a capability approach," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 63-74, March.
    7. Sakari Höysniemi & Arto O. Salonen, 2019. "Towards Carbon-Neutral Mobility in Finland: Mobility and Life Satisfaction in Day-to-Day Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-21, September.
    8. Silvia Marcu, 2021. "Towards Sustainable Mobility? The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Romanian Mobile Citizens in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-18, April.
    9. Patricia L. Mokhtarian, 2019. "Subjective well-being and travel: retrospect and prospect," Transportation, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 493-513, April.
    10. Ryan, Jean & Wretstrand, Anders & Schmidt, Steven M., 2015. "Exploring public transport as an element of older persons' mobility: A Capability Approach perspective," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 105-114.
    11. Kerstin Stark & Anton Galich, 2020. "Acceptable Automobility through Automated Driving. Insights into the Requirements for Different Mobility Configurations and an Evaluation of Suitable Use Cases," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-22, November.
    12. Luis Camarero & Renato Miguel Carmo & Sofía Santos, 2020. "Condiciones ambientales y diferenciación social en los patrones de movilidad: el caso de las desigualdades de género en el Área Metropolitana de Lisboa," Revista de Estudios Regionales, Universidades Públicas de Andalucía, vol. 0(y), pages 145-172.
    13. Lena Levin, 2019. "How May Public Transport Influence the Practice of Everyday Life among Younger and Older People and How May Their Practices Influence Public Transport?," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-16, March.
    14. Zobena, Aija & Lace, I. & Benga, Elita, 2012. "Service provision and social cohesion in rural areas: interaction between commuting, mobility and the residential preferences in Latvia," 126th Seminar, June 27-29, 2012, Capri, Italy 126119, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    15. Zuoxian Gan & Tao Feng & Min Yang, 2018. "Exploring the Effects of Car Ownership and Commuting on Subjective Well-Being: A Nationwide Questionnaire Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.
    16. Richard Llewellyn & Jonathan Cowie & Mike Maher, 2020. "Active Road Studs as an Alternative to Lighting on Rural Roads: Driver Safety Perception," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-16, November.
    17. Lowe, Kate & Mosby, Kim, 2016. "The conceptual mismatch: A qualitative analysis of transportation costs and stressors for low-income adults," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 1-8.
    18. Benjamin Motte-Baumvol & Julie Fen-Chong & Olivier Bonin, 2023. "Immobility in a weekly mobility routine: studying the links between mobile and immobile days for employees and retirees," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(5), pages 1723-1742, October.
    19. Zeynep Ceren Henriques Correia, 2018. "Air Maidans, Can It Be?," Societies, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-6, September.
    20. Abdul Rais Abdul Latiff & Saidatulakmal Mohd, 2023. "Transport, Mobility and the Wellbeing of Older Adults: An Exploration of Private Chauffeuring and Companionship Services in Malaysia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-17, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:338:y:2023:i:c:s027795362300686x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.