A qualitative geographical information systems approach to explore how older people over 70 years interact with and define their neighbourhood environment

Abstract

A growing body of literature explores the relationship between the built environment and health, and the methodological challenges of understanding these complex interactions across the lifecourse. The impact of the neighbourhood environment on health and behaviour amongst older adults has received less attention, despite this age group being potentially more vulnerable to barriers in their surrounding social and physical environment. A qualitative geographical information systems (QGIS) approach was taken to facilitate the understanding of how older people over 70 in 5 UK towns interact with their local neighbourhood. The concept of neighbourhood changed seasonally and over the lifecourse, and was associated with social factors such as friends, family, or community activities, rather than places. Spaces stretched further than the local, which is problematic for older people who rely on variable public transport provision. QGIS techniques prompted rich discussions on interactions with and the meanings of 'place' in older people.

Keywords: Ageing; Environment; Methods; Neighbourhood; Qualitative geographical information systems; Space.

Fig. 1

Example of an overview activity space map generated from 7 day GPS data. Figure shows an example of an ‘overview’ activity space map that was used for interviews. Maps were generated from GPS data in ArcGIS and exported to Google Maps. Solid lines represent GPS tracts recorded during the 7 day period and stars represent stops of more than 10 min at a single location. The dashed line represents the interviewee's view of their ‘neighbourhood’, which was annotated onto the maps during the interview and stretched further than the GPS tracts.