Older peoples' independent living in their own homes and their ability to move around and maintain social relations in their communities have been acknowledged as important aims to support their well-being. In this article, we study Special Transport Services as a means to support older persons with ‘aging in place’ – that is, within their communities. From “go-alongs” (shared dial-a-ride bus journeys) and “sit-down interviews” (at participant's home or a café) with 12 older people living in a Finnish suburb, we explored their everyday dial-a-ride bus trips to the local mall. We used actor-network theory and the concept of motility to show how at first glance what appeared to be simple dial-a-ride journeys were in fact produced by a complex and fluid actor network consisting of people, rules, norms, practices, technical devices, as well as other objects and tools. Associations between various human and non-human actors compensated for the functional limitations experienced by the participants, but also created difficulties during the journeys. Our main finding is that the actor network of dial-a-ride bus did physically help older people be more mobile, but at the same time the service required a wide range of know-how and skills. We argue that developing a truly age-friendly environment – with inclusive services to help older individuals age well within their community – requires a detailed understanding from perspective of the actor networks that produce those services. When planning old age services, there is a need to engage with older people from different social backgrounds to develop services that are genuinely supportive and easy to use for a heterogeneous group. Our findings can be utilized in developing physical and social environments that better support older people's mobility and enable them to .

中文翻译：

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在社区中安享晚年：了解老年人拨打公交车出行的复杂性


老年人在自己家里独立生活以及在社区内走动和维持社会关系的能力已被认为是支持其福祉的重要目标。在本文中，我们研究特殊交通服务作为支持老年人“就地养老”（即在社区内养老）的一种手段。通过与居住在芬兰郊区的 12 名老年人的“跟风”（共享电话预约巴士旅程）和“坐下来采访”（在参与者家中或咖啡馆），我们探索了他们的日常电话预约服务前往当地购物中心的巴士旅行。我们使用行动者网络理论和移动性概念来展示乍一看看似简单的拨号旅程实际上是由一个复杂且流动的行动者网络产生的，该网络由人员、规则、规范、实践、技术组成。设备以及其他物体和工具。各种人类和非人类演员之间的联系弥补了参与者所经历的功能限制，但也在旅途中造成了困难。我们的主要发现是，叫车巴士的参与者网络确实在物理上帮助老年人提高了行动能力，但同时这项服务需要广泛的专业知识和技能。我们认为，发展一个真正的老年人友好型环境——提供包容性服务来帮助老年人在社区内安享晚年——需要从提供这些服务的行动者网络的角度进行详细的了解。在规划老年服务时，需要与来自不同社会背景的老年人合作，开发真正支持且易于异质群体使用的服务。 我们的研究结果可用于开发物理和社会环境，更好地支持老年人的行动能力并使他们能够。