The Role of Park Proximity and Social Support in Shaping Park Visitation, Physical Activity, and Perceived Health Among Older Adults

Abstract

Background:Health scholars purport that park proximity and social support promotes physical activity and health. However, few studies examine the combined contributions of these constructs in shaping physical activity and health.Purpose:In this study, the contributions of environmental and social characteristics in shaping park use, physical activity, and health are examined.Methods:A survey was distributed to 1515 older adults in Cleveland, Ohio. Results: Path analysis indicated that social support was directly related to health. Perceived park walking proximity was related to physical activity and health through park use frequency. Park proximity was directly related to park use duration.Conclusions:Results suggest that environmental and social characteristics contribute to physical activity and health, but perceptions may also be a prerequisite to park use, daily physical activity, and health.

Perceptions of Neighborhood Park Quality: Associations with Physical Activity and Body Mass Index

“…Given that demographics and past park use have been shown to influence perceptions of parks [33,64,65] as well as physical activity and health [29,[66][67][68][69][70], gender, age, income, race/ethnicity, and past park use were controlled for in the four models. To categorize past park use, respondents who indicated that they had not visited a park within the last month were treated as nonvisitors.…”

“…Furthermore, some studies show differences between perceived versus objective measures of park characteristics [25][26][27], and perceived measures may be even more important in predicting physical activity and health [28,29]. Specifically, although studies indicate that people may not always know accurate information about their parks [27,30], these perceptions, even if incorrect compared with observational measures, are significant because people make their decisions based on their perceptions.…”

“…Furthermore, as perceptions and meanings of parks can be formed even without having visited [31], understanding nonvisitor residents' perceptions of their neighborhood parks is also important. Most research on perceptions of park characteristics and physical activity has focused on perceptions of access and availability [24,25,29,32]. For example, Hoehner et al [25] found that recreational activity was associated with perceived access to recreational facilities (e.g., parks and walking trails).…”

Actividades recreativas y sus beneficios para personas nicaragüenses residentes en Costa Rica

“…El apoyo social se manifiesta física y psicológicamente en la salud. El apoyo emocional es el que más fuertemente se ha relacionado con la salud, aunque el apoyo material también contribuye, pero en menor grado (Glover y Parry, 2008;Mowen, Orsega-Smith, Payne, Ainsworth y Godbey, 2007;Sasidharan et al, 2006).…”

Exploring adolescents’ perception of accessibility and its influence on park use

“…Moreover, while accessibility has now evolved into a multidimensional construct, current open-space planning models still use physical proximity to parks as a proxy variable to evaluate 'accessibility' (Babey et al, 2013;Andrew T Kaczynski et al, 2014;A. Mowen, Orsega-Smith, Payne, Ainsworth, & Godbey, 2007;Neuvonen, Slevanen, Tonnes, & Koskela, 2007).…”