Neighbourhood environmental influences on older adults' physical activities and social participation in Singapore: A photovoice study.

Physical activities and social participation have vast health benefits for older adults and are also known to influence each other in everyday lives of older adults. In the quest for healthy ageing in place, it is vital to investigate the role of neighbourhood environmental factors in maintaining and/or initiating physical activities and social participation in older adults. Using the photovoice method, this qualitative research aims to examine how the physical and social neighbourhood environment influences physical activities, social participation, and instances where they occur together among 30 older adults in three Singapore neighbourhoods. A thematic analysis of 820 photographs, their descriptions, and 21 semi-structured individual and group interviews reveals that participants' physical activities and social participation are influenced by neighbourhood features during everyday movements (themes related to walking trips and resting places), and at destination nodes (themes on destinations and events where people often met and/or accessed amenities and services). Environmental qualities grounded in the local context affect older adults' outdoor activities. Physical activities and social participation in older adults may be planned or spontaneous, occurring independently, simultaneously or one after another in supportive neighbourhood environments.

The development and validation of a prototype mobility tracker for assessing the life space mobility and activity participation of older adults.

BACKGROUND: There is increasing interest in examining the life space mobility and activity participation of older adults in the community using sensor technology. Objective data from these technologies may overcome the limitations of self-reported surveys especially in older adults with age-associated cognitive impairment. This paper describes the development and validation of a prototype hybrid mobility tracker for assessing life space mobility and out-of-home activities amongst 33 community-ambulant older adults in Singapore. METHODS: A hybrid mobility tracker was developed by combining a passive Global Positioning System logger, tri-axial accelerometer and radio-frequency identification. Objective measures of life space, derived from 1 week of tracking data using Geographic Information Systems, were the maximum Euclidean distance from home (Max Euclid) and the area of the minimum convex polygon surrounding all GPS waypoints (MCP area). Out-of-home activities were quantified by visually identifying the total number of activity nodes, or places where participants spent ≥5 min, from mobility tracks. Self-reported measure of life space in 4 weeks was obtained using the University of Alabama at Birmingham Study of Life Space Assessment (UAB-LSA) questionnaire. Self-reported out-of-home activities were recorded daily in a travel diary for 1 week. Bivariate correlations were used to examine convergent validity between objective and subjective measures of life space and out-of-home activities. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 69.2 ± 7.1 years. The mean UAB-LSA total score was 79.1 ± 17.4. The median (range) Max Euclid was 2.44 km (0.26-7.50) per day, and the median (range) MCP area was 3.31 km2 (0.03-34.23) per day. The UAB-LSA total score had good correlation with Max Euclid (r = 0.51, p = 0.002), and moderate correlation with MCP area (r = 0.46, p = 0.007). The median (range) total number of activity nodes measured by tracker of 20 (8-47) per week had a good correlation with the total activity count recorded in the travel diaries of 15 (6-40) per week (r = 0.52, p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: The tracking system developed to understand out-of-home travel was feasible and reliable. Comparisons with the UAB-LSA and travel diaries showed that it provided reliable and valid spatiotemporal data to assess the life space mobility and activity participation of older adults.

Cross-sectional associations of neighborhood third places with social health among community-dwelling older adults.

Social health is a key aspect of active ageing. The objectives of this study are to investigate whether and what type of neighborhood third places are associated with positive social health among community dwelling older adults, and explore whether the associations vary by gender. Neighborhood third places are those spaces that have a social function and are located within a neighborhood, but outside the home (first place) and work (second place). Cross-sectional data were from 981 adults aged 55 years and older who responded to a survey conducted in 2018 in three Singapore neighborhoods. The neighborhoods were selected because they have a high percentage of older residents, different housing typologies, and heterogeneity of built environment qualities. Social health was measured using the six-item Lubben Social Network Scale. Attributes of participants' physical environment included residential density, pedestrian-friendly street design, access to public transport, and were objectively assessed using geographic information systems data. Covariates included age, sex, ethnic group, highest educational qualification, marital status, number of people living in dwelling, years living at current address, dwelling unit type, and number of diagnosed medical conditions and IADLs. Regression analysis was performed using Stata version 15 and indicated that female respondents who live in closer proximity to a wet market were more likely to have higher levels of social health independently of individual demographic and physical health characteristics, physical environment qualities, and other destination types. In a time of heightened concern about social isolation and loneliness among older age groups, this study contributes evidence that older people, particularly females, who live in closer proximity to a wet market self-reported better social health. Wet markets are spaces where people can mingle while purchasing or bargaining for fresh produce and household necessities. The mechanisms via which neighborhood third places may contribute to social health requires examination.

Association of Neighborhood Social Capital With Quality of Life Among Older People in Singapore.

Objective: To examine how neighborhood-based cognitive and structural social capital are associated with individual quality of life among a sample of community-dwelling older adults in Singapore. Method: Using survey data from 981 older adults (aged 55 years and above) in nine residential neighborhoods, multilevel models simultaneously estimated the effects of independent variables at the individual and neighborhood levels on quality of life (CASP-12). Results: Social cohesion (ß = 1.39, p < .01) and associational membership (ß = 19.16, p < .01) were associated with higher quality of life in models adjusted for neighborhood facilities and individual sociodemographics, social networks, functional limitations, global cognitive status, and medical conditions. Discussion: The results suggest that place-based or neighborhood social capital may be important for older person's well-being. It identifies the contribution of structural (associational membership) and cognitive (social cohesion) social capital to the well-being of community-dwelling older adults in Singapore.