People aged over 65 and living in Albury can continue to pound the city’s pavements in coming weeks with research being run by Charles Sturt University (CSU).
Working in collaboration with Albury City Council, CSU researchers Dr Rachel Whitsed and Dr Ana Horta from the CSU Institute for Land, Water and Society are measuring the ‘walkability’ of the city, specifically for older people.
“Extensive research tells us that walking improves health and wellbeing and allows increased access to social and economic life for older people,” said Dr Whitsed, the team’s lead researcher.
“Now we need their help to make Albury city more walkable for them.”
See Cr David Thurling from Albury City describe the Walkability project
The Walkability Project for 2019 will be launched at the Albury Library-Museum at 11am on Wednesday 6 March in time for the cooler temperatures of autumn.
With 30 people already taking part in the project, the researchers are seeking more participants aged over 65 to wear a small global positioning system (GPS) device for two weeks.
“We are using this GPS data to map and measure the walkability of Albury through the eyes, and shoes, of older people,” Dr Horta said.
“The more participants we have, the better and more extensive will be our coverage of the city, and the more information Albury City will have to improve the city’s paths.”
This project might also be of interest to the carers and relatives of people living in Albury who are aged over 65 years. Find more information on the project website.
In addition, any Albury resident can complete a ‘Have a Say’ survey form on walkability in the city, available on the AlburyCity website.
To participate in the project, contact Ms Kris Gibbs on 6051 9992, or email kgibbs@csu.edu.au.
The project is supported by AlburyCity and the NSW government.
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