“I Would if I Could”: The Effect of Mobility Problems On The Activities of Older People

Abstract

This study sought to determine the extent to which people aged 65 years and over reduce their levels of social interactions as they age. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with forty people from each of three distinct communities: a coastal community, an inner suburb and a retirement village. Participants were asked about their past activities, present pursuits and the activities, i f any, in which they would like to be involved Problems with mobility were found to have the greatest impact on the abilify of the participants to do the activities of choice. This was not limited to the people who generally felt in poor health; those who perceived themselves to be very healthy also experienced a lack of mobility as a barrier to desired pursuits. In this study, it was apparent that those people with mobility problems off-set the threat of isolation by spending more time in contact with their families and friends than participants whose mobility was not problemoric. As a result of this extra contact, satisfaction with leisure was not decrease4 nor were feelings of loneliness increased, by their lack of mobility.