Orellano-Colón Elsa M, Mountain Gail A, Rosario Marlene, Colón Zahira M, Acevedo Sujeil, Tirado Janiliz
School of Health Professions, Occupational Therapy Program, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, P.O. Box 365067, San Juan 00936-5067, Puerto Rico, USA.
Health Services Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2015 Sep 10;12(9):11288-303. doi: 10.3390/ijerph120911288.
Many older adults face challenges that prevent them from accomplishing common daily activities such as moving around, home maintenance, and leisure activities. There is still a need to examine and understand how environmental factors impact daily participation across gender. This study sought to make a qualitative comparison of gender differences regarding environmental barriers to participation in daily occupations from the perspectives of older adults who live alone in Puerto Rico. Twenty-six Hispanic older adults, 70 years or older participated in this study. We used a descriptive qualitative research design in which researchers administered an in-depth interview to each participant. The results elucidated that women were more likely than men to experience restricted participation due to lack of accessibility of the built environment and transportation systems. The findings could help with the development of tailored, occupation-based, preventive interventions that address gender specific environmental barriers and promote greater participation among both women and men. Further research is required to explore whether these environmental barriers to occupational participation remain consistent across living situations, socioeconomic status and ethnicity.
许多老年人面临着各种挑战，这些挑战使他们无法完成诸如四处走动、家庭维护和休闲活动等日常常见活动。仍然有必要研究和了解环境因素如何影响不同性别的日常参与情况。本研究旨在从波多黎各独自生活的老年人的角度，对参与日常活动的环境障碍方面的性别差异进行定性比较。26名70岁及以上的西班牙裔老年人参与了本研究。我们采用了描述性定性研究设计，研究人员对每位参与者进行了深入访谈。结果表明，由于建筑环境和交通系统缺乏可达性，女性比男性更有可能经历参与受限的情况。这些发现有助于制定针对性的、基于活动的预防性干预措施，以解决特定性别的环境障碍，并促进男女双方更多地参与。还需要进一步研究，以探讨这些职业参与的环境障碍在不同生活状况、社会经济地位和种族中是否保持一致。
