Preferences and frequencies of visits to public facilities in old age--a pilot study in a Swedish town center.

In societies with an increasing proportion of elderly active people it is valuable to gain knowledge about what elderly people actually do and want to do in relation to activity arenas in the public environment. The main aim of this study was to investigate elderly people's preferences and frequencies of visits to public facilities in a Swedish town center. A further aim was to gather information on elderly people's subjective perception of problematic and favorable environmental conditions in public environments. The study was conducted using a previously developed questionnaire, "My visit preferences to the public environment". The sample comprised 39 persons aged 75-84 years, living in a defined geographic area. The results of this study provide an overview of the public facilities elderly people rate as important to visit. There are public facilities preferred by most elderly people but with varying frequencies of visits. The study also generated information about elderly people's subjective perceptions of problematic and favorable environmental conditions in public environments, demonstrating that more problems were perceived along walking routes in the public outdoor environment than in the public facilities per se. The results are indicative for community planning supporting elderly people's activities in the public environment, but the questionnaire used should be further validated.