Use of a Systematic Observational Measure to Assess and Compare Walkability for Older Adults in Vancouver, British Columbia and Portland, Oregon Neighbourhoods

This study assessed neighbourhood walkability for older adults in eight neighbourhoods of Vancouver, British Columbia and Portland Oregon, utilizing the newly developed environmental audit tool ‘SWEAT-R’. The discrete variable based data are complemented with qualitative observation data. Findings indicate that the audit tool has a 95% or higher inter-rater reliability for more than 80% of the items. Neighbourhood environmental data suggest that neighbourhoods in Vancouver region have more urban design features supportive of walking behaviour. Sidewalk and street life environmental features were relatively similar across all four Portland neighbourhoods, however, there were notable differences in sidewalk characteristics among the four Vancouver neighbourhoods. The audit tool is useful in documenting walkable features in urban and suburban neighbourhoods with particular relevance to older adults’ needs.