A grounded visualization approach to explore sociospatial and temporal complexities of older adults' mobility

In the past decade, there has been an increasing interest in older adults' mobility. Most often, mobility is measured quantitatively as physical movement (e.g. physical activity) or travel behavior (e.g. trips, modes, and distances). There is a need to integrate both quantitative and qualitative data over time to visualize both context and content in a spatial and temporal dimension and discover patterns and explanations for their underlying processes. We aim to address this gap by demonstrating how a grounded visualization approach can be used to explore sociospatial and temporal complexities of older adults' mobility. We present two cases of active community (urban) dwelling older adults with low incomes (age > 65) who live in Metro Vancouver, Canada, over a period of 4 years. Geographical Position Systems (GPS) (QStarz Datalogger BT-Q1000x) data is used to capture the destinations participants travel to and the routes they take to get there. Survey data provides socio-demographic characteristics and neighborhood environments. Interview data capture perceptions, attitudes, and motivations of destinations and route choices over time. Integration of the methods identified the following themes: spatial perceptions of neighborhood, consistency in travel patterns, changes in physical health, familiarity with place and access over time. Our grounded visualization approach demonstrates how georeferenced qualitative data can be combined with quantitative spatial data to provide a deeper understanding of the complexity of older adults' mobility experiences over time. Findings illustrate that time is a necessary component of older adults' engagement with place; familiarity influences spatial perceptions of local and distant ‘neighbourhoods’; and older adults prioritize destinations that allow them to engage in multiple activities. By integrating methods we are able to gain a better understanding of challenges faced by older adults at multiple systems levels, and uncover resources and assets available to remediate them. •Grounded visualization can be used as a tool to explore mobility over time.•Familiarity influences spatial perceptions of local and distant ‘neighborhoods’.•Older adults prioritize destinations that allow them to do multiple activities.•Time is a necessary component of older adults' engagement with place.