Lucie Richard

Publications (54)93.78 Total impact

• Article: The Role of Social Participation and Walking in Depression among Older Adults: Results from the VoisiNuAge Study.

  Dominic Julien, Lise Gauvin, Lucie Richard, Yan Kestens, Hélène Payette
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  ABSTRACT: ABSTRACT Lower social participation and less frequent walking represent two factors that may contribute to depression among older adults, but previous research on the subject is inconclusive. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to quantify associations between depression and the combined effects from social participation and walking in a sample of older adults living in Canada (n = 549). Linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted, in which we entered social participation and walking as predictors of depression while controlling for individual characteristics. Results of the final models show that individuals who do not walk outside their home report more depressive symptoms or a greater likelihood of possible clinical depression (the association in our study between social participation and depression was attenuated to non-significance). The current study highlights the central role played by life habits, such as walking, in older adults' mental health status.
  Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement 03/2013;
• Article: Neighborhood Resources and Social Participation Among Older Adults: Results From the VoisiNuage Study.

  Lucie Richard, Lise Gauvin, Yan Kestens, Bryna Shatenstein, Hélène Payette, Mark Daniel, Spencer Moore, Mélanie Levasseur, Geneviève Mercille
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  ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE: This article examined the associations between proximity to selected locations considered to be conducive to social participation, and social participation itself, in urban-dwelling seniors. METHODS: A sample of 520 older adults residing in the Montreal area provided reports of social participation and information about health, sociodemographic characteristics, social networks, and perceptions about features of their residential environment. Information about the distance between their home and five locations deemed to be conducive to social participation were obtained from a geographic information system. RESULTS: Analyses showed a significant association between proximity to selected locations and social participation while accounting for individual characteristics and perceptions of neighborhood features (β = 0.37; SE = 0.17; p < 0.05). DISCUSSION: Findings were consistent with contributions highlighting the impact of the built environment on seniors' health-related behavior. Future work would benefit from the use of longitudinal designs and examinations of social participation through alternate channels.
  Journal of Aging and Health 12/2012; · 1.56 Impact Factor
• Article: How Can Both the Intervention and Its Evaluation Fulfill Health Promotion Principles? An Example From a Professional Development Program.

  Marie-Claude Tremblay, Lucie Richard, Astrid Brousselle, Nicole Beaudet
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  ABSTRACT: The emergence over the past 20 years of health promotion discourse poses a specific challenge to public health professionals, who must come to terms with new roles and new intervention strategies. Professional development is, among other things, a lever for action to be emphasized in order to meet these challenges. To respond to the specific training needs of public health professionals, a team from the Direction de santé publique de Montréal (Montreal Public Health Department) in Quebec, Canada, established in 2009 the Health Promotion Laboratory, an innovative professional development project. An evaluative component, which supports the project's implementation by providing feedback, is also integrated into the project. This article seeks to demonstrate that it is possible to integrate the basic principles of health promotion into a professional development program and its evaluation. To this end, it presents an analytical reading of both the intervention and its evaluation component in light of the cardinal principles in this field. Initiatives such as the Health Promotion Laboratory and its evaluation are essential to consolidate the foundations of professional development and its assessment by concretely integrating health promotion discourse into these practices.
  Health Promotion Practice 11/2012;
• Article: Associations between residential food environment and dietary patterns in urban-dwelling older adults: results from the VoisiNuAge study.

  Geneviève Mercille, Lucie Richard, Lise Gauvin, Yan Kestens, Bryna Shatenstein, Mark Daniel, Hélène Payette
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  ABSTRACT: To examine associations between the availability of residential-area food sources and dietary patterns among seniors. Cross-sectional analyses. Individual-level data from the NuAge study on nutrition and healthy ageing were merged with geographic information system data on food store availability and area-level social composition. Two dietary patterns reflecting lower- and higher-quality diets (respectively designated 'western' and 'prudent') were identified from FFQ data. Two food source relative availability measures were calculated for a 500 m road-network buffer around participants' homes: (i) proportion of fast-food outlets (%FFO) relative to all restaurants and (ii) proportion of stores potentially selling healthful foods (%HFS, healthful food stores) relative to all food stores. Associations between dietary patterns and food source exposure were tested in linear regression models accounting for individual (health and sociodemographic) and area-level (socio-economic and ethnicity) covariates. Montréal metropolitan area, Canada. Urban-dwelling older adults (n 751), aged 68 to 84 years. %FFO was inversely associated with prudent diet (β = -0·105; P < 0·05) and this association remained statistically significant in models accounting for %HFS. %HFS was inversely associated with lower western diet scores (β = -0·124; P < 0·01). This latter association no longer reached significance once models were adjusted for area-level covariates. In Montréal, the food environment is related to the diet of older adults but these links are more complex than straightforward. The absence of significant relationships between healthful food stores and prudent diets, and between fast-food outlets and western diets, deserves further investigation.
  Public Health Nutrition 07/2012; 15(11):2026-39. · 2.17 Impact Factor
• Article: Comparison of Two Indices of Availability of Fruits/Vegetable and Fast Food Outlets.

  Geneviève Mercille, Lucie Richard, Lise Gauvin, Yan Kestens, Hélène Payette, Mark Daniel
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  ABSTRACT: Studies of food environment often examine single dimensions of areas that may not account for complexity of exposure to all food sources. With respect to the deprivation amplification hypothesis, particular needs are to assess whether relative or absolute measures of the food environment are related to characteristics of social environment. The objective of this study was to compare absolute availability (AA) of fast food outlets (FFO) and stores selling fresh fruits and vegetables (FVS) with the relative availability (RA) of the same food sources in relation to area-level poverty and ethnic diversity in 248 selected census tracts (CT) in Montreal, Canada. AA of FFO and FVS were expressed as areal densities of food sources within CTs. RA indices were calculated as the proportion of FVSs relative to total food stores and the proportion of FFOs relative to all restaurants within CTs, respectively. Whereas the AA of FFO was positively associated with area-level poverty and ethnic diversity, the RA of FFO was inversely associated with area-level poverty and not associated with ethnic diversity. Both measures of FVS were positively associated with area-level poverty and ethnic diversity. These findings do not support a model of deprivation amplification. Furthermore, results of FFO suggest that the alternate measure of RA can complement information based on AA indicators of the food environment, with potential utility in predicting eating practices.
  Journal of Urban Health 06/2012; · 2.13 Impact Factor
• Article: How do dentists perceive poverty and people on social assistance? A qualitative study conducted in Montreal, Canada.

  Christine Loignon, Anne Landry, Paul Allison, Lucie Richard, Christophe Bedos
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  ABSTRACT: Despite significant needs, people on social assistance are sometimes reluctant to consult dentists because of previous negative experience and communication barriers. They feel poorly understood by oral health professionals and sometimes complain of being stigmatized. It is thus important to know how dentists perceive poverty and this group of patients. The aim of this study was to understand how dentists perceive poverty and people on social assistance. To investigate this largely unexplored question, a qualitative study was conducted based on in-depth interviews with thirty-three dentists practicing in Montreal, Canada. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed for qualitative analysis. The study revealed two perspectives on poverty: 1) the individualistic-deficit perspective and 2) the socio-lifecourse perspective. In the individualistic-deficit perspective, which predominated among these participants, dentists explained poverty by individual factors and emphasized individuals' negative attitudes toward work and lack of capabilities. Conversely, dentists with a socio-lifecourse perspective described poverty as a structural rather than an individual process. Acknowledging individuals' distress and powerlessness, these dentists expressed more empathy toward people on social assistance. The results suggest the individualistic-deficit perspective impedes the care relationship between dentists and poor patients as well as highlighting the need to better prepare dentists for addressing issues of poverty and social inequities in clinical practice.
  Journal of dental education 05/2012; 76(5):545-52. · 0.91 Impact Factor
• Article: Neighborhood characteristics and depressive mood among older adults: an integrative review.

  Dominic Julien, Lucie Richard, Lise Gauvin, Yan Kestens
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  ABSTRACT: There is growing evidence that neighborhood environments are related to depressive mood in the general population. Older adults may be even more vulnerable to neighborhood factors than other adults. The aim of this paper is to review empirical findings on the relationships between neighborhood characteristics and depressive mood among older adults. A search of the literature was undertaken in PsycINFO and MEDLINE. Nineteen studies were identified. Study designs were most often cross-sectional, included large sample sizes, and controlled for major individual characteristics. Mediational effects were not investigated. Statistical analysis strategies often included multilevel models. Spatial delimitations of neighborhood of residence were usually based on administrative and statistical spatial boundaries. Six neighborhood characteristics were assessed most often: neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage, neighborhood poverty, affluence, racial/ethnic composition, residential stability, and elderly concentration. Selected neighborhood characteristics were associated with depressive mood after adjusting for individual variables. These associations were generally theoretically meaningful. Neighborhood variables seem to make a unique and significant contribution to the understanding of depressive mood among older adults. However, few studies investigated these associations and replication of results is needed. Several substantive neighborhood variables have been ignored or neglected in the literature. The implications of neighborhood effects for knowledge advancement and public health interventions remain unclear. Recommendations for future research are discussed.
  International Psychogeriatrics 02/2012; 24(8):1207-25. · 2.24 Impact Factor
• Article: Physical Inactivity Mediates the Association between the Perceived Exercising Behavior of Social Network Members and Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study.

  Janette S Leroux, Spencer Moore, Lucie Richard, Lise Gauvin
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  ABSTRACT: Social networks influence the spread of depression, health behaviors, and obesity. The social networks of older urban-dwelling adults were examined to assess whether physical inactivity mediated the association between social networks and obesity. Data come from the Montreal Neighborhood Networks and Healthy Aging study (n = 2707). Self-reported height and weight were used to calculate body mass index (BMI) with obesity defined as a BMI≥30. A name generator/interpreter instrument was used to elicit participants' core ties (i.e., alters), and assess whether alters exercised regularly and resided in participants' neighborhoods. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to measure physical inactivity. Separate multilevel logistic regression analyses were conducted for younger (18-54 years) and older (55 years plus) age groups to examine the association between the exercising behavior of alters and obesity. Ancillary analyses examined whether the residential location of alters was associated with obesity. Mediation analyses assessed whether physical inactivity mediated the association between alter exercising behavior and obesity. Models adjusted for participant socio-demographic and -economic characteristics. Among the older age stratum (55 years plus), physically inactive individuals were more likely obese (OR 2.14; 95% CIs: 1.48-3.10); participants who had more exercising alters were less likely obese (OR: 0.85; 95% CIs: 0.72-0.99). Physical inactivity mediated the association between exercising alters and obesity. Ancillary analyses showed that having exercising alters in the neighborhood compared to other locations tended to reduce the odds of obesity. This work demonstrates the importance of social networks among older adults in facilitating a physically active lifestyle and reducing the odds of obesity. Such findings can inform the design of public health interventions that seek to improve the environmental conditions supporting the physical activity of older adults.
  PLoS ONE 01/2012; 7(10):e46558. · 4.09 Impact Factor
• Article: Living in a well-serviced urban area is associated with maintenance of frequent walking among seniors in the VoisiNuAge study.

  Lise Gauvin, Lucie Richard, Yan Kestens, Bryna Shatenstein, Mark Daniel, Spencer D Moore, Geneviève Mercille, Hélène Payette
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  ABSTRACT: This paper examined whether or not closer proximity to local services and amenities was associated with maintenance of more frequent walking over time among urban-dwelling seniors over and above individual-level characteristics. A sample of 521 adults who were part of the VoisiNuAge study and who resided in a large North American urban area reported on the frequency of walking outside the home over a 3-year period and on their health, sociodemographic characteristics, social support and resources, and perceptions of different features of their residential environment. Information about the distance between their home and 16 services and amenities was obtained from a geographic information system. Seniors were then classified into quartiles of proximity (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4). Unadjusted and adjusted ordinal growth curve models showed that closer proximity to services and amenities was associated with greater likelihood of frequent walking at all times throughout the 3-year period. Findings are consistent with the notion that environments may act as buoys for the maintenance of important health behaviors. Future experimental and quasi-experimental research is required to explore whether or not the environment can play a causal role in influencing patterns of walking over time.
  The Journals of Gerontology Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 01/2012; 67(1):76-88. · 2.62 Impact Factor
• Article: [Conditions linked to the integration of the ecologic approach to the programming of prevention-promotion offered to elderly clients by the CSSS of Quebec: a case study].

  Marie-Ève Leblanc, Lucie Richard, Annie Bisaillon, Lise Gauvin, Francine Ducharme, Maryse Trudel
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  ABSTRACT: This multiple case study investigates conditions influencing the integration of the ecological approach in disease prevention and health promotion (DPHP) programs offered to older adults by local health organizations in Quebec. Scheirer's (1981) implementation model guided the study of five Centres de Santé et Services Sociaux chosen in line with the ecological dimension of their DPHP programs. Documentary analyses were conducted along with thirty-eight semi-structured interviews among professionals and managers. Three categories of factors were explored: professional, organizational and environmental factors. Results indicate the ecological dimension of programs is influenced by organizational norms, competing priorities, team structure, external partnerships, preconceived ideas regarding DPHP for older adults, along with professional interest and training. These results provide levers for action toward optimizing services offered to the older population through disease prevention and health promotion programs.
  Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement 12/2011; 30(4):617-30.
• Article: Associations between perceived proximity to neighborhood resources, disability, and social participation among community-dwelling older adults: results from the VoisiNuAge study.

  Mélanie Levasseur, Lise Gauvin, Lucie Richard, Yan Kestens, Mark Daniel, Hélène Payette
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  ABSTRACT: To examine the associations between perceived proximity to neighborhood resources, disability, and social participation and the potential moderating effect of perceived proximity to neighborhood resources on the association between disability and social participation in community-dwelling older women and men. Cross-sectional. Community. Older adults (296 women, 258 men). Not applicable. Data for age, education, depressive symptoms, frequency of participation in community activities, perceived proximity to neighborhood resources (services, amenities), and functional autonomy in daily activities (disability) were collected by means of interviewer-administered questionnaire. Greater perceived proximity to resources and lower level of disability were associated with greater social participation for both women (R(2)=.10; P<.001) and men (R(2)=.05; P<.01). The association between disability and social participation did not vary as a function of perceived proximity to neighborhood resources in women (no moderating effect; P=.15). However, in men, greater perceived proximity to neighborhood resources enhanced social participation (P=.01), but only in those with minor or no disability. Future studies should investigate why perceived proximity to services and amenities is associated with social participation in older men with minor or no disabilities and with women overall, but has no association in men with moderate disabilities.
  Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation 12/2011; 92(12):1979-86. · 2.18 Impact Factor
• Article: Advancing population-based health-promotion and prevention practice in community-health nursing: key conditions for change.

  Nicole Beaudet, Lucie Richard, Sylvie Gendron, Nancy Boisvert
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  ABSTRACT: Community-health nursing practice is a pivotal aspect of present-day health reforms. In Quebec, Canada, the recent introduction of a population-based approach has entailed increasing the resources allocated to health promotion and disease prevention. Semistructured interviews were conducted with nurses and managers (N = 69) in an effort to understand how these new resources are reflected in nursing practice. Three classes of factors emerged as key conditions for change: contextual and historical, training and professional-development, and work-organization factors. The authors propose courses of action respecting these conditions to provide support for community-health nursing practices that incorporate a contemporary population-based approach.
  ANS. Advances in nursing science 10/2011; 34(4):E1-E12. · 0.97 Impact Factor
• Article: Complexity: a potential paradigm for a health promotion discipline.

  Marie-Claude Tremblay, Lucie Richard
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  ABSTRACT: Health promotion underpins a distancing from narrow, simplifying health approaches associated with the biomedical model. However, it has not yet succeeded in formally establishing its theoretical, epistemological and methodological foundations on a single paradigm. The complexity paradigm, which it has yet to broach head-on, might provide it with a disciplinary matrix in line with its implicit stances and basic values. This article seeks to establish complexity's relevance as a paradigm that can contribute to the development of a health promotion discipline. The relevance of complexity is justified primarily by its matching with several implicit epistemological and methodological/theoretical stances found in the cardinal concepts and principles of health promotion. The transcendence of ontological realism and determinism as well as receptiveness in respect of the reflexivity that complexity encompasses are congruent with the values of social justice, participation, empowerment and the concept of positive health that the field promotes. Moreover, from a methodological and theoretical standpoint, complexity assumes a holistic, contextual and transdisciplinary approach, toward which health promotion is tending through its emphasis on ecology and interdisciplinary action. In a quest to illustrate our position, developmental evaluation is presented as an example of practice stemming from a complexity paradigm that can be useful in the evaluation of health promotion initiatives. In short, we argue that it would be advantageous for health promotion to integrate this paradigm, which would provide it with a formal framework appropriate to its purposes and concerns.
  Health Promotion International 09/2011; · 1.94 Impact Factor
• Article: [An advocacy strategy to favor the adoption of a provincial public policy on smoking reduction: a public campaign which emphasizes epidemiologic portraits of tobacco use, studies on the impact of smoking reduction measures, and reports on the activities of the tobacco industry].

  Eric Breton, Lucie Richard, France Gagnon, Marie Jacques, Pierre Bergeron
  Global Health Promotion 03/2011; 18(1):95-7.
• Source

  Available from: Ulf Bockenholt

  Article: Social capital and core network ties: a validation study of individual-level social capital measures and their association with extra- and intra-neighborhood ties, and self-rated health.

  Spencer Moore, Ulf Bockenholt, Mark Daniel, Katherine Frohlich, Yan Kestens, Lucie Richard
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  ABSTRACT: Research on social capital and health has assumed that measures of trust, participation, and perceived cohesion capture aspects of people's neighborhood social connections. This study uses data on the personal networks of 2707 Montreal adults in 300 different neighborhoods to examine the association of socio-demographic and social capital variables with the likelihood of having core ties, core neighborhood ties, and high self-rated health (SRH). Persons with higher household income were more likely to have core ties, but less likely to have core neighborhood ties. Persons with greater diversity in extra-neighborhood network capital were more likely to have core ties, and persons with greater diversity in intra-neighborhood network capital were more likely to have core neighborhood ties. Generalized trust, perceived neighborhood cohesion, and extra-neighborhood network diversity were shown associated with high SRH. Conventional measures of social capital may not capture network mechanisms. Findings suggest a critical appraisal of the mechanisms linking social capital and health, and the further delineation of network and psychosocial mechanisms in understanding these links.
  Health & Place 12/2010; 17(2):536-44. · 2.67 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: umontreal.ca

  Article: Correlates of hot day air-conditioning use among middle-aged and older adults with chronic heart and lung diseases: the role of health beliefs and cues to action.

  Lucie Richard, Tom Kosatsky, Annie Renouf
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  ABSTRACT: Extreme ambient heat is a serious public health threat, especially for the elderly and persons with pre-existing health conditions. Although much of the excess mortality and morbidity associated with extreme heat is preventable, the adoption of effective preventive strategies is limited. The study reported here tested the predictive power of selected components of the Health Belief Model for air-conditioning (AC) use among 238 non-institutionalized middle-aged and older adults with chronic heart failure and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease living in Montréal, Canada. Respondents were recruited through clinics (response rate 71%) and interviews were conducted in their homes or by telephone. Results showed that 73% of participants reported having a home air conditioner. The average number of hours spent per 24-hour period in air-conditioned spaces during heat waves was 14.5 hours (SD = 9.4). Exploratory structural equation modeling showed that specific beliefs about the benefits of and drawbacks to AC as well as internal cues to action were predictive of its level of use, whereas the perceived severity of the effects of heat on health was not. The findings are discussed in light of the need to adequately support effective response to extreme heat in this vulnerable population.
  Health Education Research 11/2010; 26(1):77-88. · 1.66 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: Melanie Levasseur

  Article: Inventory and analysis of definitions of social participation found in the aging literature: proposed taxonomy of social activities.

  Mélanie Levasseur, Lucie Richard, Lise Gauvin, Emilie Raymond
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  ABSTRACT: Social participation is a key determinant of successful and healthy aging and therefore an important emerging intervention goal for health professionals. Despite the interest shown in the concept of social participation over the last decade, there is no agreement on its definition and underlying dimensions. This paper provides an inventory and content analysis of definitions of social participation in older adults. Based on these results, a taxonomy of social activities is proposed. Four databases (Medline, CINAHL, AgeLine and PsycInfo) were searched with relevant keywords (Aging OR Ageing OR Elderly OR Older OR Seniors AND Community involvement/participation OR Social engagement/involvement/participation) resulting in the identification of 43 definitions. Using content analysis, definitions were deconstructed as a function of who, how, what, where, with whom, when, and why dimensions. Then, using activity analysis, we explored the typical contexts, demands and potential meanings of activities (main dimension). Content analysis showed that social participation definitions (n = 43) mostly focused on the person's involvement in activities providing interactions with others in society or the community. Depending on the main goal of these social activities, six proximal to distal levels of involvement of the individual with others were identified: 1) doing an activity in preparation for connecting with others, 2) being with others, 3) interacting with others without doing a specific activity with them, 4) doing an activity with others, 5) helping others, and 6) contributing to society. These levels are discussed in a continuum that can help distinguish social participation (levels 3 through 6) from parallel but different concepts such as participation (levels 1 through 6) and social engagement (levels 5 and 6). This taxonomy might be useful in pinpointing the focus of future investigations and clarifying dimensions specific to social participation.
  Social Science [?] Medicine 10/2010; 71(12):2141-9. · 2.70 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: Ulf Bockenholt

  Article: Associations among socioeconomic status, perceived neighborhood control, perceived individual control, and self‐reported health

  Spencer Moore, Mark Daniel, Ulf Bockenholt, Lise Gauvin, Lucie Richard, Steven Stewart, Laurette Dubé
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  ABSTRACT: Recent research has suggested that perceived control and a person's perceptions of their neighborhood environment may mediate the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and health. This cross-sectional study assessed whether perceptions of informal social control mediated the association between SES and self-reported health, and if these two constructs represented distinct mechanisms linking SES with self-reported health. The sample consisted of 869 adults residing in 300 census tracts in Montreal, Canada. Multilevel methods were used to assess the associations among self-reported health, SES, perceived control, and perceived informal social control adjusting for sociodemographic variables. Perceived control (mediation estimate=−0.16, p<.001) and perceived informal social control (mediation estimate=−0.05, p<.05) partially mediated the association between SES and self-reported health. Perceived control did not mediate the association of perceived informal social control with self-reported health. Perceived informal social control may act alongside but distinct from perceived control as a mechanism linking SES to self-reported health. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
  Journal of Community Psychology 07/2010; 38(6):729 - 741. · 0.99 Impact Factor
• Article: Ecological models revisited: their uses and evolution in health promotion over two decades.

  Lucie Richard, Lise Gauvin, Kim Raine
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  ABSTRACT: Since the 1980s, ecological models of health promotion have generated a great deal of enthusiasm among researchers and interventionists. These models emerged from conceptual developments in other fields, and only selected elements of the ecological approach have been integrated into them. In this article, we describe the tenets of the ecological approach and highlight those aspects that have been integrated into ecological models used in health promotion. We also analyze how ecological models have been applied to the study of two important public health issues, namely physical activity promotion and the increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, by conducting an archival study of published research. Finally, we make a statement regarding the usefulness of ecological models for research and practice and propose recommendations for future research, program planning, and evaluation.
  Annual Review of Public Health 03/2010; 32:307-26. · 5.45 Impact Factor
• Article: Staying connected: neighbourhood correlates of social participation among older adults living in an urban environment in Montréal, Quebec.

  Lucie Richard, Lise Gauvin, Céline Gosselin, Sophie Laforest
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  ABSTRACT: Alongside community involvement, promoting social participation has been identified as a key strategy of fostering empowerment, one of the central tenets of the health promotion movement. Engagement in social and productive activities appears to be particularly beneficial to older adults, as it has been found to be associated with positive outcomes on a variety of health indicators. It is therefore critical to identify factors that might lead to greater social participation within these age groups. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between perceptions of neighbourhood user-friendliness and social participation while controlling for personal characteristics in a sample of seniors living in an urban environment. A convenience sample of older adults (n = 282) was recruited through community organizations located in high- average- and low-income Montreal neighbourhoods. Data were collected via an interviewer-administered questionnaire assessing social participation and various variables at the neighbourhood level (e.g. housing and social environment, walking environment and transportation, and services and amenities) and at the individual-level (e.g. health status and socio-demographic characteristics). Five variables emerged as independent predictors of social participation. Positive predictors retained in the final regression model included frequent walking episodes (almost every day), higher Vitality and General Health SF-12v2 scores, and perceived accessibility to key resources for older adults. Also included was a negative predictor: age (R2 of the final model = 0.28). Implications of the findings for research and action pertaining to ecological, health promotion interventions for older adults are identified.
  Health Promotion International 01/2009; 24(1):46-57. · 1.94 Impact Factor