Assessment of community resources that support aging in place for seniors in Cote Saint-Luc, Montreal
This demonstration research project assessed the physical layout of community resources and the walking environment that support daily activities of elderly residents in the city of Cote Saint-Luc, the third largest municipality on the island of Montreal. Cote Saint-Luc (CSL) was chosen as the study area given the high number of senior residents based from the Canadian census of population.
As one of the cosmopolitan cities of Canada and with a significant number of senior residents, Cote Saint-Luc and Montreal should ensure that the community's physical layout and walking environments must not only enable seniors to reach opportunities independently but also make them inclusive and easy to use particularly for those who face difficulties in accessing resources that support their daily living. The research was undertaken into two parts: first was the assessment of the physical configuration of resources in a selected area of the city through the use of GIS spatial analysis, and the second was an assessment of walking environments through street audit. This research was conducted for two months from March to April 2011.
Figure 1. Study area and street audit coverage.
Figure 2. Distribution of resources in Cote Saint-Luc compared with seniors population.
Figure 3. Distribution of resources within given walking distances from Boulevard Cavendish.
Table 1. Results of street audit on chemin Kildare and chemin Mackle from Boulevard Cavendish.