Um estudo sobre a mobilidade ativa de idosos em uma cidade de porte médio a partir da abordagem socioecológica

Abstract

The growth of the elderly population, in Brazil and in the world, reinforces the need for cities to plan to welcome this population, guaranteeing them the quality of their mobility  in a safe and autonomous way. The research sought to carry out a study on the active mobility of the elderly based on a socio-ecological approach. This approach proposes to verify different levels of influence in the individual's relationship with the environment. For the study, the levels were established: individual, social, physical environment and public policies, each level being characterized by factors. The objective was to identify factors that influence the active mobility of the elderly and to assess the perception of these individuals in relation to the factors, in addition to analyzing the importance of socioecological levels in this mobility. The most cited factors in the literature were selected and classified according to their respective socioecological level. Then, a research instrument was developed to assess the perception of the elderly about the factors and was applied in the city of São Carlos-SP. As a result, in relation to the individual level, most of the elderly showed a positive attitude about walking, showing affinity with the practice. However, effectively, most of the elderly were classified as non-active individuals (walking less than 150 minutes a week). Regarding the level of social, was observed that the support from family and friends was neutral to encourage walking. The level of the physical environment  of the neighborhood was also rated neutral. Although factors such as quality of sidewalks, aesthetics (no weeds, garbage, etc.) and safety (fear of assault and aggression) are evaluated as bad, discouraging walking, factors such as mixed land uses and alternative paths contribute positively to the walking. Regarding the political level, spaces intended for pedestrians are not well managed by managers. Finally, a binary logistic regression model was calibrated to verify which levels were most relevant for the elderly to be active. It was found that the most relevant  was the physical environment level, followed by the individual and social support. The political level was not statistically significant for the regression model. Understanding the importance of levels allows managers to have a macro view of the city's needs and, by observing the elderly's perception of the factors corresponding to each level, identify what acts as a barrier and stimulus, fostering information that allows the creation of measures of encouraging active mobility of the elderly.