2023 Volume 11 Issue 3 Pages 20-43
The residential outdoor environment may not always appropriately meet the needs of the elderly. Compared to other age groups, the elderly spend more time in their surrounding residential and outdoor spaces. This is due to their lack of ability physically and energetically. The purpose of this study was to test the applicability of the Seniors’ Outdoor Survey (SOS) tool, which is an environmental assessment instrument, in terms of its ratings and reliability based on different ages and genders. Labour Square in Shandong Province of China served as the site study location. Raters of different ages were appointed to increase the experiment's reliability; 20-40, 40-60, and 60-80 years old. Two trained raters of different genders were selected for each age group. Then, the raters were assigned to evaluate on a scale of 1 to 7 for 60 instrument items of outdoor environmental factors for the elderly. The results showed that the mean ratings among raters were similar, while the mean raters’ reliability was excellent and applicable to the elderly for all three groups. The mean interrater reliability (ICC) was 0.826. Moreover, the T-test's significance (p-value) was 0.869. Despite rating differences across age groups, the high ICC suggested that this instrument might be helpful in a wide range of environmental settings. Furthermore, the research findings can be used as a guide for the Chinese government and design institutes to apply the SOS tool to solve the environmental factors of the residential outdoor environment for the elderly.
