Older adults’ living environments are instrumental in making walking part of their daily lives, as we strive to promote healthy aging. Objective measures, such as WalkScore®, and subjective measures of walkability provide means to grasp the factors that enable or hinder frequent and enjoyable walking. However, there is limited consensus on what factors contribute to mismatch between perceptions of walkability and objective built environment measures, particularly among older adults. We interviewed fifty-eight older adults (65 +) from six Canadian cities to uncover the relationship between their perceived neighbourhood walkability and objective built environment measures. We segmented our interviewee sample into four categories based on their residential WalkScore® and perceptions of neighbourhood walkability. Our thematic analysis provides insight into strategies older adults use to respond to barriers to walking in their environment and walking facilitators they experience in their neighbourhoods. The findings can be of interest to practitioners and decision-makers as they seek to improve walking environments for aging populations, ultimately contributing to older adults’ long-term health and well-being.

中文翻译：

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步行游览：加拿大老年人的步行体验和对社区步行性的看法

老年人的生活环境有助于使步行成为他们日常生活的一部分，因为我们努力促进健康老龄化。客观测量（如 WalkScore®）和步行能力的主观测量提供了掌握促进或阻碍频繁和愉快步行的因素的方法。然而，关于哪些因素导致对步行性的看法与客观的建筑环境测量之间不匹配，人们的共识有限，尤其是在老年人中。我们采访了来自加拿大 6 个城市的 58 名老年人 （65 +），以揭示他们感知的社区步行性与客观建筑环境衡量标准之间的关系。我们根据受访者的住宅 WalkScore® 和对社区步行能力的看法将受访者样本分为四类。我们的主题分析提供了对老年人用来应对在其环境中行走障碍的策略以及他们在社区中遇到的步行促进者的见解。这些发现可能会引起从业者和决策者的兴趣，因为他们寻求改善老龄化人口的步行环境，最终有助于老年人的长期健康和福祉。