Stakeholders' Walkability/Wheelability Audit in Neighbourhoods (SWAN)
SWAN, the Stakeholders' Walkability/Wheelability Audit in Neighborhoods is a community engaged research project where people with disabilities and older adults are coresearchers in the project. They help to evaluate the walking/wheeling pedestrian infrastructure of their neighbourhoods to identify barriers and facilitators to advocate for change towards the development of inclusive communities. Dr Atiya Mahmood, Professor, Department of Gerontology, SFU is the SWAN project lead.鈥�
SWAN is a sub-project of the partnership, within the Navigation and Pedestrian Environment stream. MAP collaborates with community organizations and municipalities to address key research questions focused on creating accessible communities. The MAP project is led by , Professor, Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy Dept. at the University of British Columbia.鈥�
The SWAN project aims to assess the impact of the neighbourhood built environment on mobility, accessibility, and participation of people with disability and older adults in 4 streams including sensory (hearing and vision), mild cognitive impairment, and people using mobility assistive devices. As a community-engaged study, this project collaborates with people with disabilities (and their caregivers as needed) to collect data on their opinion and experiences of street features, including curb ramps, sidewalks, traffic signals, and crosswalks. Our study participants work as co-researchers on different stages of the project starting from research tool development to data collection/ analysis and knowledge mobilization鈥�. The project is conducted in five municipalities in Metro Vancouver, including Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, North Vancouver and Surrey. Some of the successful collaborations with community organizations and municipalities can be viewed in the following videos: , , .鈥�
Background
Mobility is crucial for daily activities and social participation. For older adults or individuals with mobility impairments, limitations can reduce independence, increase sedentary behaviour, and raise health risks like obesity and depression. The built environment, including street design, sidewalk maintenance, and mobility aids, significantly affects mobility.鈥�
Barriers in the neighbourhood environment can impact the mobility and social participation of people with disabilities, but this issue is often overlooked in research. To address this, SWAN evaluates how the built environment affects individuals with mobility, sensory, and cognitive disabilities by gathering insights from people with disabilities and their caregivers on features like curb ramps, sidewalks, traffic signals, and crosswalks.
Our Objectives
- Identify environmental barriers and facilitators affecting mobility and social participation among persons living with disabilities and older adults.
- Co-develop a user-friendly environmental audit with stakeholders including people with disabilities and older adults to evaluate the neighbourhood environment.鈥�
- Empower people with disabilities to advocate for inclusive streets in their neighbourhoods with evidence-based data collected by themselves.
- Inform decision-makers, such as municipal policymakers, city planners, and urban designers, to contribute to developing an inclusive and accessible neighbourhood environment.鈥�
- Collaborate with municipalities and community organizations to improve the accessibility of urban built environment.
Our Participants
In this study, participants act as 鈥渃o-researchers鈥� to the very stage of tool development, to data collection and analysis and in knowledge mobilization activities. During data collection, participants complete Survey/audit of the street for barriers and facilitators using a checklist (the SWAN tool) and giving an interview to provide details about items that are impacting their accessibility. 鈥�
Through this approach, our team works closely with stakeholders with the ultimate goal of enhancing the inclusiveness of our neighbourhoods! 鈥�
The study involved people with a variety of disabilities, such as:鈥�
- People with sensory disabilities (hearing and vision)
- Cognitive disabilities (mild to moderate dementia)鈥�
- Mobility assistive device users鈥�
- Older Adults in Ethnic stream鈥�
Our goal is to shed light on the daily experiences of approximately 60 participants across Metro Vancouver, working together to identify the barriers and facilitators that impact their mobility and social participation. By doing so, we aim to help create accessible built environments for all, regardless of ability.
Ethnic Mobility Stream using SWAN tool
There is a paucity of empirical research on the environmental barriers and facilitators of outdoor mobility and social participation for ethnic-specific older adults and persons with mobility disabilities in Canadian cities. Through the application of an intersectionality lens, the SWAN project intends to expand its scope to include older adults from ethnic-specific communities in Metro Vancouver. The data collection provided an opportunity to incorporate the viewpoint of these populations and respond to their specific needs. Considering the large population of Cantonese and Mandarin speakers in the Metro Vancouver, our research team worked with Chinese older adults in Vancouver, Richmond, and Burnaby and Farsi speaking older adults in North Vancouver.
"Main goal of SWAN is to help people with different abilities to advocate for inclusive environments in their cities with data that they themselves have collected."
Dr. Atiya Mahmood, SWAN Tool Development Lead & MAP Project Co-Investigator
SWAN Tool
The Stakeholders鈥� Walkability/Wheelability Audit in Neighbourhoods (SWAN) is a micro-scale user-led audit tool that evaluates both objective and subjective features of neighbourhood street segments affecting mobility and social participation. The development of the SWAN tool included a comprehensive literature review and incorporated aspects of other user-led tools, such as the Microscale Audit of Pedestrian Streetscapes, the Built Environment and Active Transport Neighbourhood Assessment, and Jane鈥檚 Walk: Walkability Checklist. SWAN tool contains 185 items spanning five domains including functionality, safety, appearance and maintenance, land use and supportive features, and social aspects.
In addition to the checklist, participants are encouraged to ask the secondary research assistant to take photographs of barriers or facilitators to walkability/wheelability found in the hotspot. Participants use their own judgement and perspectives to decide which features they want to photograph.
The SWAN tool has also been adapted to accommodate individuals鈥� living sensory disability (hearing and vision) as well as those with cognitive disabilities, including early stages of dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). This adaptation enables these populations to systematically evaluate their neighborhoods
SWAN_VisionTool_limitedpreview.pdfSWAN Vision Tool (Limited Preview): The file gives a limited preview of the SWAN tool questionnaire used for data collection. If you want to know more about the tool, contact the project team using the form at the bottom.
In contrast to other walkability audit tools, the SWAN tool offers distinct advantages stemming from its comprehensive approach. It incorporates a dual assessment method, encompassing both objective and subjective evaluations of the neighborhood environment. This holistic approach extends to documenting facets of both the social and physical environments, thus creating a more nuanced understanding of the community.
Furthermore, the SWAN tool is distinctive in its procedural design, allowing active participation from community members who can advocate for change within their locale. This participatory element empowers residents to have a direct influence on their neighborhood's improvement. Additionally, the tool leverages a combination of quantitative and qualitative data, offering a richer perspective on the walkability of an area.
Follow-up Interview Guide鈥�
The tool is accompanied by a secondary observation form which allows participants to comment on the overall audited areas, note their familiarity with the neighbourhood, as well as comment on subjective details related to both the physical and social characteristics of the area. Accordingly, data collection for the SWAN tool includes both recording the presence and absence of objective features of the audited neighbourhoods and contextual information based on open-ended questions that focus on the perception of those completing the micro-scale audits found in the secondary observation tool.
Study Details
Data Collection
During each data collection session, two research team members accompany the participant. One to lead the session, and the other to assist if needed. Several components are involved in our participatory data collection:
- User-led audit and observation using the SWAN Tool
- Follow-up interview
- Photographing
User-led Audit/ Observation using the SWAN tool
For data collection, an audit/observation is done by study participants who work with us as co-researcher. The SWAN tool questionnaire includes five main domains:
- Functionality with two sub domains; crossing functionality and sidewalk functionality
- Safety with two sub domains; traffic safety and pedestrian safety鈥�
- Appearance and maintenance
- Land use and supportive features
- Social aspects
Each domain contains a set of questions in the format of a checklist. The tool is designed to be administered independently, but the research team is present to answer potential questions and help as needed.
Follow-up Interview
After completing auditing for 2-4 blocks, the research team will sit down in a nearby caf茅 to ask the participant general questions about their experience navigating the urban built environment. The sit-down interview allows them to expand on their answers and to speak about their experiences.
Study Findings
Data is being analyzed in line with our research questions and will be shared through academic publications, presentations, and other knowledge outputs. Participant quotes related to each SWAN domain are presented below to offer insight into the study鈥檚 emerging findings.
Functionality
"There were a few crosswalks today that didn鈥檛 have lines drawn. If they had parallel lines drawn that would be better. Crosswalks on bigger roads have painted lines, which make the crosswalks more noticeable. It prompts drivers and it prompts pedestrians."
Participant BUEM06
Safety
鈥淚 find that that we have a look at it that some of them do not directly point to the direction where you are crossing. So, specifically for mobility issues people on wheelchair, they have to go to the street side before they can access the direction where they want to go, which I believe I think poses security...safety issues.鈥�
Participant BUD02
Appearance & Maintenance
"The surface of them needs to be improved. And that's pretty much. Burnaby needs a lot of work to do. Sorry. Yeah, the surface of almost every sidewalk we're on except for one, we run four sidewalks, three or four needs to be resurfaced in certain spots. So, that would be the only obstacle. It鈥檚 not really an obstacle just makes it more challenging to maneuver."
Participant BUM19a
Landuse & Supportive Features
Social Aspects
"I hope to find a place where I can get along an engage with younger people as well, but presently, we haven鈥檛 been able to find a place like that yet."
Participant BUEM05
"The alignment is poor. All curb ramps, face out into the middle of the intersection, which may be difficult for people who have vision disabilities, or people that are blind... The curb ramps are wide, but again, some of them are too steep."
Participant BUM19
"On the whole, I鈥檇 feel safe. There was a light every 30-40 meters. With that spacing there should be sufficient light coverage."
Participant BUEM05
"Right in front of the library and cultural centre. But you know, I walk there to the library in the daytime, and I see people around. I don't feel unsafe."
Participant RID01
