Impact of the Built Environment and the Neighborhood in Promoting the Physical Activity and the Healthy Aging in Older People: An Umbrella Review

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Abstract

(1) Background: The aim of this study is to establish which specific elements of the built environment can contribute to improving the physical activity of self-sufficient, noninstitutionalized and living in the city adults > 65 years. (2) Methods: An extensive literature search was conducted in several database. Umbrella review methodology was used to include the reviews that presented a sufficient methodological quality. (3) Results: Eleven reviews were included. The elements positively associated with physical activity in older adults were: walkability; residential density/urbanization; street connectivity; land-use mix-destination diversity; overall access to facilities, destinations and services; pedestrian-friendly infrastructures; greenery and aesthetically pleasing scenery; high environmental quality; street lighting; crime-related safety; traffic-related safety. The elements that were negatively associated with physical activity were: poor pedestrian access to shopping centers; poor pedestrian-friendly infrastructure and footpath quality; barriers to walking/cycling; lack of aesthetically pleasing scenery; crime-related unsafety; unattended dogs; inadequate street lighting and upkeep; traffic; littering, vandalism, decay; pollution; noise. (4) Conclusions: Evidence shows that specific elements of the built environment can contribute to promoting older people’s physical activity. The city restructuring plans should take into consideration these factors.

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Theoretical explanations for maintenance of behaviour change: a systematic review of behaviour theories

Dominika Kwasnicka, Stephan Dombrowski, Martin White … (2016)

ABSTRACT Background: Behaviour change interventions are effective in supporting individuals in achieving temporary behaviour change. Behaviour change maintenance, however, is rarely attained. The aim of this review was to identify and synthesise current theoretical explanations for behaviour change maintenance to inform future research and practice. Methods: Potentially relevant theories were identified through systematic searches of electronic databases (Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO). In addition, an existing database of 80 theories was searched, and 25 theory experts were consulted. Theories were included if they formulated hypotheses about behaviour change maintenance. Included theories were synthesised thematically to ascertain overarching explanations for behaviour change maintenance. Initial theoretical themes were cross-validated. Findings: One hundred and seventeen behaviour theories were identified, of which 100 met the inclusion criteria. Five overarching, interconnected themes representing theoretical explanations for behaviour change maintenance emerged. Theoretical explanations of behaviour change maintenance focus on the differential nature and role of motives, self-regulation, resources (psychological and physical), habits, and environmental and social influences from initiation to maintenance. Discussion: There are distinct patterns of theoretical explanations for behaviour change and for behaviour change maintenance. The findings from this review can guide the development and evaluation of interventions promoting maintenance of health behaviours and help in the development of an integrated theory of behaviour change maintenance.

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Understanding environmental influences on walking; Review and research agenda.

Neville Owen, Nancy Humpel, Eva Leslie … (2004)

Understanding how environmental attributes can influence particular physical activity behaviors is a public health research priority. Walking is the most common physical activity behavior of adults; environmental innovations may be able to influence rates of participation. Review of studies on relationships of objectively assessed and perceived environmental attributes with walking. Associations with environmental attributes were examined separately for exercise and recreational walking, walking to get to and from places, and total walking. Eighteen studies were identified. Aesthetic attributes, convenience of facilities for walking (sidewalks, trails); accessibility of destinations (stores, park, beach); and perceptions about traffic and busy roads were found to be associated with walking for particular purposes. Attributes associated with walking for exercise were different from those associated with walking to get to and from places. While few studies have examined specific environment-walking relationships, early evidence is promising. Key elements of the research agenda are developing reliable and valid measures of environmental attributes and walking behaviors, determining whether environment-behavior relationships are causal, and developing theoretical models that account for environmental influences and their interactions with other determinants.

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Built environmental correlates of older adults’ total physical activity and walking: a systematic review and meta-analysis

David Barnett, Anthony Barnett, Andrea Nathan … (2017)

Background Identifying attributes of the built environment associated with health-enhancing levels of physical activity (PA) in older adults (≥65 years old) has the potential to inform interventions supporting healthy and active ageing. The aim of this study was to first systematically review and quantify findings on built environmental correlates of older adults’ PA, and second, investigate differences by type of PA and environmental attribute measurement. Methods One hundred articles from peer-reviewed and grey literature examining built environmental attributes related to total PA met inclusion criteria and relevant information was extracted. Findings were meta-analysed and weighted by article quality and sample size and then stratified by PA and environmental measurement method. Associations (p < .05) were found in relation to 26 individual built environmental attributes across six categories (walkability, residential density/urbanisation, street connectivity, access to/availability of destinations and services, infrastructure and streetscape, and safety) and total PA and walking specifically. Reported individual- and environmental-level moderators were also examined. Results Positive environmental correlates of PA, ranked by strength of evidence, were: walkability (p < .001), safety from crime (p < .001), overall access to destinations and services (p < .001), recreational facilities (p < .001), parks/public open space (p = .002) and shops/commercial destinations (p = .006), greenery and aesthetically pleasing scenery (p = .004), walk-friendly infrastructure (p = .009), and access to public transport (p = .016). There were 26 individual differences in the number of significant associations when the type of PA and environmental measurement method was considered. No consistent moderating effects on the association between built environmental attributes and PA were found. Conclusions Safe, walkable, and aesthetically pleasing neighbourhoods, with access to overall and specific destinations and services positively influenced older adults’ PA participation. However, when considering the environmental attributes that were sufficiently studied (i.e., in ≥5 separate findings), the strength of evidence of associations of specific categories of environment attributes with PA differed across PA and environmental measurement types. Future research should be mindful of these differences in findings and identify the underlying mechanisms. Higher quality research is also needed. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12966-017-0558-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Int J Environ Res Public Health

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Int J Environ Res Public Health

Journal ID (publisher-id): ijerph

Title: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Publisher: MDPI

ISSN (Print): 1661-7827

ISSN (Electronic): 1660-4601

Publication date (Electronic): 23 August 2020

Publication date (Print): September 2020

Volume: 17

Issue: 17

Electronic Location Identifier: 6127

Affiliations

[1 ]Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Viale GB Morgagni 48, 50134 Florence, Italy; guglielmo.bonaccorsi@ 123456unifi.it (G.B.); chiara.lorini@ 123456unifi.it (C.L.)

[2 ]Postgraduate School in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, University of Florence, Viale GB Morgagni 48, 50134 Florence, Italy; marco.delriccio@ 123456unifi.it (M.D.R.); chiara.milani@ 123456unifi.it (C.M.); duccio.giorgetti@ 123456unifi.it (D.G.)

[3 ]Department of Architecture, University of Florence, Via della Mattonaia, 14, 50121 Florence, Italy; nicoletta.setola@ 123456unifi.it (N.S.); eletta.naldi@ 123456unifi.it (E.N.)

[4 ]Department of Epidemiology, Regional Health Agency of Tuscany, Via P Dazzi, 1, 50141 Florence, Italy; claudiadellisanti70@ 123456libero.it

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[* ]Correspondence: federico.manzi@ 123456unifi.it

[†]

Ph.D. student.

Author information

Guglielmo Bonaccorsi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5171-4308

Marco Del Riccio https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2742-0297

Nicoletta Setola https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0632-5354

Eletta Naldi https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5732-4776

Chiara Lorini https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3170-1857

Article

Publisher ID: ijerph-17-06127

DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17176127

PMC ID: 7504170

PubMed ID: 32842526

SO-VID: 2e71fe45-1b84-491f-a832-b95764d1cf66

License:

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Impact of the Built Environment and the Neighborhood in Promoting the Physical Activity and the Healthy Aging in Older People: An Umbrella Review

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Most cited references 30

Theoretical explanations for maintenance of behaviour change: a systematic review of behaviour theories

Understanding environmental influences on walking; Review and research agenda.

Built environmental correlates of older adults’ total physical activity and walking: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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