Walking Slower and Pausing for Rest May Enable Older Adults to Maintain Outdoor Mobility

A study in the Journals of Gerontology: Series A suggests older adults' outdoor mobility can be sustained by walking slower, pausing for rest, or using walking aids, reports ScienceDaily . These measures were classified as adaptive walking modifications, while reduced frequency of walking and avoiding long walking distances were deemed maladaptive modifications. "Those older people who used maladaptive walking modifications had smaller life-space mobility and they perceived that they lacked possibilities for outdoor mobility," noted the University of Jyväskylä's Heidi Skantz. "As for those older people who had chosen to utilize adaptive walking modifications, they were able to maintain wider life-space mobility and they were also satisfied with their outdoor mobility opportunities." Walking long distances might become a more difficult proposition as functional ability declines, but it nevertheless remains valuable to continue covering long distances by walking to maintain outdoor mobility. "Encouraging older people to opt for adaptive walking modifications might be possible by designing age-friendly environments, for instance by providing opportunities to rest when walking outdoors," Skantz concluded.