Focus group with the elderly and a walk in wintry Östersund
In mid-November, a final focus group was held within the project at Mötesplatsen Torvalla in Östersund municipality.
The purpose of the meeting was, among other things, to increase the understanding of older people's experiences of urban natural environments, the importance of being outside for health, the need for different kinds of accessibility and wishes to be able to get outdoors at different times of the year.
Rosemarie Ankre and Simon Strömqvist had a fruitful conversation with four elderly people who, for various reasons, need aids such as walkers or poles to increase their accessibility. We started with coffee and group discussions indoors and then together walked a walking trail outdoors in close proximity to the area's natural environments and activity areas.
As a complement to previous focus groups, it was now a focus group that got to experience plenty of snow. Despite the cold, the sun was shining and the air was crisp and windless, which was appreciated by the participants. The experience was that everyone was in good spirits, where together we had a memorable experience and knowledge for one of the project's sub-studies.
