A new systematic review shines an important light on older adults' mobility. Funded by the World Health Organisation, The impact of transport, housing, and urban development interventions on older adults’ mobility examines recent experimental and quasi-experimental studies with mobility outcomes.
While the review yielded mixed results, it did show that interventions in the social and built environment have great potential to produce a positive impact. The key findings were:
- Prioritising accessibility for transport (e.g. fee-reduction strategies) may improve older adults’ daily mobility
- Driving training interventions reduced risky road behaviours and improved knowledge in older adults
- Age-friendly infrastructure and removal of safety hazards in public spaces improved older adults’ day-to-day movement
It is also notable that at-home assistive devices and technology-centred interventions did not lead to statistically significant improvements in mobility, but succeeded in maintaining levels of functional ability among older adults.
There is a dearth of good-quality studies with low risk of bias in this field, and the authors’ noted that greater standardisation of mobility measures would help us understand how changes in the social and build environment impact mobility in older adults.