Students Explore Supportive Transportation Needs of Older Adults

Abstract

Students in an undergraduate applied research in aging class learned about qualitative research methods by analyzing previously collected narratives. The interviews were with 32 participants who were national experts in senior transportation in the United States. The purpose of the study was to explore the specialized supportive mobility needs of community-residing older adults. The policy goal of the study was to expand the discussion on levels of assistance needed in senior transportation. The educational goal of the study was to expose undergraduate students to qualitative research methods, having them analyze transcripts and audio recordings. In preparation for the research, students reviewed the current literature in transportation and aging and learned that the ability to get to where you want to go, when you want to go there, is a key factor for aging-in-place in our communities. When that ability is compromised, the informal network of family and friends may not be a sustainable transportation option. Students were divided into three analysis groups by the domains of challenges, strategies, and policies and coded themes and subthemes through an iterative process. An important subtheme that emerged was the connection of community mobility to health care outcomes.

KEYWORDS:

• transportation
• community mobility
• aging-in-place

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors gratefully acknowledge the project development contributions of Elizabeth Dugan, PhD, and Alison Gottlieb, PhD, Gerontology Institute, University of Massachusetts Boston; and Helen Kerschner, PhD, Beverly Foundation, Albuquerque, NM. Further thanks are offered for transcription assistance provided by Ilana F. Silverstein and manuscript review by Robert Geary, Gerontology Institute, University of Massachusetts Boston. The following gerontology undergraduate and certificate students contributed to data analysis: Laura Adams, Holly Belanger, Linnea Burke, Stephen Jones, Lauren Lee, David Lopez, Erin O’Neill, Lee Paradis, Alycia Rao, Rachael Solano, and Keith Sherman. Preliminary findings were presented at the International Conference on Aging, Mobility, and Quality of Life, June 24–26, 2012, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; the 5th International Psycho-Social and Applied Gerontology Symposium in Turkey, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey (November 2012); the 65th Annual Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, San Diego, CA (November 2012). Final analyses were presented at the Massachusetts Undergraduate Research Conference, UMass Amherst (April 2014), the Alzheimer’s Association Professionals’ Conference, Marlborough, MA (May 2014) and the 67th Annual Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, Washington, DC (November 2014).

FUNDING

The research was supported, in part, by a Joseph P. Healey grant, University of Massachusetts Boston and in-kind support from the Office of Academic Affairs, AARP, Washington, DC, where the first author was a visiting scholar.

Additional information

Funding

The research was supported, in part, by a Joseph P. Healey grant, University of Massachusetts Boston and in-kind support from the Office of Academic Affairs, AARP, Washington, DC, where the first author was a visiting scholar.