Built Environment Accessibility and Disability as Predictors of Well-Being among Older Adults: A Norwegian Cross-Sectional Study

Grace Katharine Forster; Leif Edvard Aarø; Maria Nordheim Alme; Thomas Hansen; Thomas Sevenius Nilsen; Øystein Vedaa

doi:10.3390/ijerph20105898

Built Environment Accessibility and Disability as Predictors of Well-Being among Older Adults: A Norwegian Cross-Sectional Study

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 May 20;20(10):5898. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20105898.

Authors

Grace Katharine Forster^{1

2

3}, Leif Edvard Aarø², Maria Nordheim Alme³, Thomas Hansen^{4

5

6}, Thomas Sevenius Nilsen^{4

6}, Øystein Vedaa^{2

7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU, NO-7047 Trondheim, Norway.
² Department of Health Promotion, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, NIPH, NO-5015 Bergen, Norway.
³ Department of Health and Functioning, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, HVL, NO-5063 Bergen, Norway.
⁴ Department of Mental Health and Suicide, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, NIPH, NO-0456 Oslo, Norway.
⁵ Centre for Welfare and Labour Research, Oslo Metropolitan University, NO-0170 Oslo, Norway.
⁶ Promenta Research Center, University of Oslo, NO-0317 Oslo, Norway.
⁷ Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, UiB, NO-5015 Bergen, Norway.
⁸ Voss District Psychiatric Hospital NKS Bjørkeli, NO-5705 Voss, Norway.

Abstract

Knowledge about the influence environmental factors have on well-being is important to deliver policies supporting healthy ageing and sustainable health equity. An under-researched question is whether and how the built environment plays a role on well-being among older adults with disabilities. This study explores the relationship between built environment accessibility and disability on psychosocial well-being among older adults. Data were used from the Norwegian Counties Public Health Survey collected during February 2021 in Møre and Romsdal county (N = 8274; age = 60-97, mean = 68.6). General linear modelling was performed to examine the relationship and interaction between built environment accessibility (services, transportation, and nature) and disability on psychosocial well-being (quality of life, thriving, loneliness, and psychological distress). Higher levels of disability and poorer accessibility were each significantly related to lower psychosocial well-being across all variables (p < 0.001). Significant interaction effects were observed between disability and built environment accessibility on thriving (F(8, 5936) = 4.97, p < 0.001, η² = 0.006) and psychological distress (F(8, 5957) = 3.09, p = 0.002, η² = 0.004). No significant interaction effects were found for quality of life and loneliness. These findings indicate good built environment accessibility is associated with thriving and reduces psychological distress among older adults with disabilities. This study supports and extends previous findings on the importance of accessible and equipped environments for well-being and may aid policy makers when planning built environments to foster healthy ageing among this population group.

Keywords: built environment; disability; healthy ageing; older adults; quality of life; well-being.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Built Environment
Cross-Sectional Studies
Disabled Persons*
Environment Design
Humans
Middle Aged
Public Health
Quality of Life*
Residence Characteristics

Grants and funding

Open access funding provided by Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Møre og Romsdal administrative county council and Norwegian Institute of Public Health funded data collection for the survey. T.H. was supported by the Research Council of Norway (grant number 288083). No funding involvement was made in the study design, data analyses, data interpretation, article writing or in the article publication.