@article{ref1,
title="Age-friendliness of city, loneliness and depression moderated by internet use during the COVID-19 pandemic",
journal="Health promotion international",
year="2022",
author="Ng, Siew-Imm and Lim, Xin-Jean and Hsu, Hui-Chuan and Chou, Chen-Chen",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="The purpose of this study was to examine the association between age-friendliness of a city, loneliness and depression moderated by internet use among older people during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The survey was from 'The 2020 Survey of Needs Assessment for a Safe Community and Age-Friendly City' in Xinyi District, Taipei, which was conducted by face-to-face interviews with community-based older adults who were aged 65 and above from one district of Taipei City from May to June 2020 (n = 335). Partial least square structural equation modeling and the SPSS PROCESS macro were used for data analysis. Two domains of an age-friendly city (housing and community support and health services) were found to be associated with reduced loneliness, while one (respect and social inclusion) was associated with decreased depression. The age-friendliness of cities mitigates depression through moderator (internet use) and mediation (loneliness) mechanisms. Although some age-friendly domains of the city reduced loneliness and depression directly, the age-friendliness-loneliness-depression mechanism held true only for older adults who used the internet and not for nonusers. Maintaining the age-friendliness of an environment is beneficial to mental health, and internet use is a necessary condition to gain optimum benefits from age-friendly initiatives. Policy suggestions are discussed.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0957-4824",
doi="10.1093/heapro/daac040",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daac040"
}