FEATURE ANALYSIS ON LIVING STANDARDS EVALUATION OF ELDERLY FOCUSED ON SELECTABLE TRANSPORTATION

Abstract

 In recent years, a problem of transportation such as a declination of public transportation and an increasing of returning a driver's license from an elderly is becoming apparent in Japan.This problem is particularly serious in rural areas, so that ensuring transportation is one of the most important issues from a viewpoint of keeping quality of life and settlement in rural area. Based on these backgrounds, in this study categorized an elderly into eight groups focused on an availability of "walking", "driving", "pick-up and drop-off", and "public transportation" based on a questionnaire survey for the elderly conducted in Tobetsu-cho, Hokkaido. Based on the categorization, we analyzed a feature and seasonality between the groups in terms of living standard evaluation such as frequency of outing, subjective health condition, subjective well-being, settlement intention, and considering out-migrate. Furthermore, it is revealed that an existence of a "preliminary out-migrate group" using cluster analysis based on the questionnaire survey. From these analysis results, in this study presented a suggestion for an importance of ensuring transportation and an direction of local government policies in rural areas.