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Geographies of Transport and Ageing pp 51–71Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Mobility and Ageing: A Review of Interactions Between Transport and Technology from the Perspective of Older People

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Abstract

This chapter is an overview of the issues for older people in relation to transport and technology. I demonstrate that mobility and technology are intertwined in complex ways, and that non-transport technologies may impact older people’s experience and achievement of mobility. Understanding the nexus between mobility, information and communication technologies and older people can help us design accessible and acceptable technologies to support well-being and health in older age. This matters because new ICT is increasingly relied on to support service delivery in both the public and private sectors. Older people are heterogeneous, with different attitudes, levels of income and education affecting technology uptake. Age-related cognitive and physical impairments can also impact on technology adoption. The chapter concludes with how age-friendly design principles can support active ageing.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://www.barclays.co.uk/digital-confidence/eagles/.

  2. 2.

    Some would contend that shoes are also technology and certainly orthotics can be added to footwear as assistive technologies .

  3. 3.

    It should be noted that most of the gerontology and health literature conceptualise ‘mobility ’ as an embodied capacity, i.e. the ability to walk, and perform independent actions, within the home, rather than as an act of travel, and mobility assistive technologies are wheelchairs, walkers, scooters, etc.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    Kate Pangbourne

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  1. Kate Pangbourne
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Correspondence to Kate Pangbourne .

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  1. Department of Geography, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Angela Curl

  2. Centre for Innovative Ageing, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom

    Charles Musselwhite

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Pangbourne, K. (2018). Mobility and Ageing: A Review of Interactions Between Transport and Technology from the Perspective of Older People. In: Curl, A., Musselwhite, C. (eds) Geographies of Transport and Ageing. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76360-6_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76360-6_3

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