The Meaning of Social Participation for Daily Mobility in Later Life: an Ethnographic Case Study of a Senior Project in a Swedish Urban Neighbourhood

Ageing Int. 2017;42(3):374-391. doi: 10.1007/s12126-017-9296-4. Epub 2017 Jun 5.

Abstract

This paper presents an ethnographic case study that aims to understand the meaning of social participation in a neighbourhood for daily mobility in later life. In the study, the mobility of the participants of a senior-citizen project was monitored over 18 months. The project was founded as a result of a municipal district's targeting of social sustainability. The results show that social participation had positive effects on the daily mobility of the participants. The implementation of broad-minded thinking from the municipality and the cooperation of various municipal actors were shown to be essential for the positive outcome of this project.

Keywords: Context; Older people; Place; Wellbeing.