Continuity and Change in Older Adults’ Out-of-Home Mobility Over Ten Years: A Qualitative-Quantitative Approach

Abstract

Starting from the assumption that both personal resources and environmental conditions can affect an individual’s desired mobility, this chapter focuses on long-term stability and change in major aspects of out-of-home mobility. It explores the subjective meaning of mobility over time, perceived changes in mobility and perceived reasons for change, the course of satisfaction in various mobility domains and with life in general, and interindividual variation. The authors take a qualitative-quantitative approach to analyzing data gathered from 82 participants at three points over 10 years (1995, 2000, 2005; mean age at T3: 75.2 years). Results reveal stability in the meaning imposed on mobility between 1995 and 2005, while perceived changes point to major loss of mobility and decreasing satisfaction with mobility possibilities, out-of-home leisure activities, and travel. Satisfaction with public transport increased. Case analyses contrasting trajectories of satisfaction ratings with a qualitative view of perceived changes in various life domains underscore the pronounced and explicable variation in the dynamics of long-term mobility as people age. The findings confirm that out-of-home mobility remains crucial when people move from late midlife onto old age.