Sentrip - Senior Life Transition Points

A research project within ERA NET 2007: "Keep Moving: improving the mobility of older persons"

Partners
FACTUM oHG, Austria: Ralf Risser
Goudappel Coffeng BV: Paul van Beek, Eric Berkum
TNO, Netherlands: Marieke Martens, Tineke Hof
VTI, Sweden: Jane Summerton, Per Henriksson
Lund University, Sweden: Agneta Ståhl
Linköping University, Sweden: Jane Summerton
WSP Group, Sweden: Nina Waara

Competence Center is represented by:
Principal investigator: Agneta Ståhl
Co-applicant: Ulla Melin-Emilsson, Faculty of Social Science (Social Work)
Doctoral student: Vanessa Stjernborg

Background
This project addresses theme A in the "Keep Moving" call, namely "What are the future needs of older persons?" The underlying perspective of the project is that older persons consist of heterogeneous groups (e.g. younger older persons/older older persons; rural older persons/urban older persons; older women/older men) and that older persons should be viewed as active agents in shaping their own mobility (rather than "passive victims"). Thus an important focus will be on narrative approaches that capture the perspectives, resources and experiences within different groups of older persons which have significant importance for their everyday mobility practices.

Recent transportation research in Europe has indicated that  key transition points of "lifecycle events" are highly significant in influencing mobility patterns and choice of transport modes among older persons (van der Waerden & Timmermans, 2003; Verhoeven et al, 2005). Two important transition points are

• transition from working life to retirement (WP3)
• transition from being a two-person household to being a single-person household, i.e. the partner becomes sick/institutionalized, disabled or passes away (WP4)

The two transition points can be expected to occur in different stages of an older person's life. The transition to retirement typically occurs at the age of 60-65. While the mean pension age is about 65 years in many European countries, the average retirement age has decreased in recent years. The second transition point, i.e. into a single-person household, often occurs a few decades later, and often not before the age of 80 as the population gets healthier.

Purpose
The purpose of the project is

• to study overriding mobility patterns among older persons as well as projected future changes in these patterns in selected regions (urban/rural; growth/non-growth regions) in Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden
• to analyse key transition points in older persons' lives which can be expected to have strong implications for their everyday mobility patterns and future transportation needs
• to carry out in-depth studies of heterogeneous groups of older persons' own perspectives, resources and experiences in shaping their everyday mobility in response to these transition points
• to develop scenarios to describe and analyze future travel behaviour and differences in mobility effects among older persons in specific regions with varying characteristics
• to summarize and analyze what is currently known regarding the significance and problems of car use, particularly at key transition points, in enabling mobility among older persons
• to provide the basis for policy recommendations in the form of e.g. institutional measures, incentives and support mechanisms to enhance the future mobility of older persons

Financial contributor
EU, ERA NET 2007

Time
2007–2011