Engaging Nigerian older persons in neighbourhood environment assessment and improvement recommendations for physical activity promotion: a citizen science project
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Date
2021-08
Authors
Odeyemi, Emmanuel
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Abstract
Understanding the role continued physical activity (PA) participation plays towards achieving healthy aging, environmental health research has identified strong links between the influences of the neighbourhood environment on the level of PA participation. Spatial qualitative measures such as the Our Voice citizen science method are useful in generating context-based in-depth subjective information on the neighbourhood environment. This study was a novel adoption of the Our Voice method to assess the effect of the neighbourhood environment on PA in an urban environment in Nigeria, a region less studied in the neighbourhood environmental health field, particularly among older adults. A small sample (N = 13) of adults aged 60 or older were engaged as citizen scientists to assess how different aspects of the neighbourhood environment act as supports and/or barriers to their participation in PA and empowered to become advocates for change. They were enabled using a tablet-based application called the Stanford Healthy Neighbourhood Discovery Tool (DT) to record a total of 156 geocoded photos and 151 commentaries of neighbourhood environment features that facilitates or hinder physical activity for in and around their neighbourhood community.
In a facilitated process, the following occurred: collaborative discussions of findings with other citizen scientists to determine common themes, setting of priority targets for change, brainstorming solutions and strategies, and identifying stakeholders to advocate for change. These priority changes focused on: social connectivity, pedestrian and traffic facilities, and green and beautiful environments. Citizen scientists identified their local government mayor, executives of environmental agencies of the local government council, executives of the resident association, executives of the community development committee, and executives of prominent non-governmental organizations for older adults as essential for advocacy for a PA-friendly environment. Older adults as community members can be empowered to gather purposeful data using technology and collaborate to identify locally relevant and sustainable solutions for promoting PA-friendly environments.
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Keywords
Neighbourhood environment assessment, Physical activity promotion, Citizen science, Older persons