Designing outdoor fitness areas for older adults: a conjoint analysis study

This study aimed to examine the relative importance of micro-level design features of outdoor fitness areas preferred by older adults and whether preferences varied according to gender, park accompaniment, and mobility status. A series of Adaptive Choice-Based Conjoint (ACBC) tasks were completed by older adults (n = 372, 65–93 years, 57% female) in an online survey. Ten different micro-level design features of outdoor fitness areas were examined including surface type, location of fitness equipment, equipment designed for older adults, equipment distribution, shade sails, light fixtures, shady trees, benches, drinking water, and water body near fitness area. Hierarchical Bayes analyses within Sawtooth software were used to identify the relative importance scores and part-worth utilities of the design features. For the overall sample, the three most important features were as follows: surface type (21.5%, 95% CI 20.0, 22.9); equipment specifically designed for older adults (18.7%, 95% CI 17.3, 20.2); and shady trees around the fitness area (14.0%, 95% CI 12.9, 15.0). A few significant differences in the relative ranking of design features were observed by gender and mobility status. This study will help stakeholders in understanding which design features to prioritise when (re)designing outdoor fitness areas for older adults.