Older Adults Using Our Voice Citizen Science to Create Change in Their Neighborhood Environment

Anthony G. Tuckett, Abbey Freeman, Sharon Hetherington, Paul A. Gardiner, Abby C. King and On behalf of Burnie Brae Citizen Scientists
Additional contact information
Anthony G. Tuckett: Director, Postgraduate Coursework Programs (Nursing, Midwifery), The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
Abbey Freeman: School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
Sharon Hetherington: Healthy Connections Exercise Clinic, Burnie Brae Ltd., Chermside, QLD 4032, Australia
Paul A. Gardiner: Centre for Health Services Research, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4102, Australia
Abby C. King: Department of Health Research and Policy and Medicine, Stanford Prevention, Research Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA 94305, USA
On behalf of Burnie Brae Citizen Scientists: School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-17

Abstract: Physical activity, primarily comprised of walking in older adults, confers benefits for psychological health and mental well-being, functional status outcomes and social outcomes. In many communities, however, access to physical activity opportunities are limited, especially for older adults. This exploratory study engaged a small sample ( N = 8) of adults aged 65 or older as citizen scientists to assess and then work to improve their communities. Using a uniquely designed mobile application (the Stanford Healthy Neighborhood Discovery Tool), participants recorded a total of 83 geocoded photos and audio narratives of physical environment features that served to help or hinder physical activity in and around their community center. In a facilitated process the citizen scientists then discussed, coded and synthesized their data. The citizen scientists then leveraged their findings to advocate with local decision-makers for specific community improvements to promote physical activity. These changes focused on: parks/playgrounds, footpaths, and traffic related safety/parking. Project results suggest that the Our Voice approach can be an effective strategy for the global goals of advancing rights and increasing self-determination among older adults.

Keywords: older adult; physical activity; social connectedness; physical environment; citizen science; Discovery Tool (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/12/2685/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/12/2685/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:12:p:2685-:d:186250

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().