Seniors spend less time driving, and more time walking and using buses. Walking is free. It means no premises, no equipment, no training, no supervision. As a cost-effective health measure, walking’s a winner. Here's the bad news: We can't walk far if it's not safe to cross the road. Between 2006 and 2015, almost 4 times as many pedestrians (348) as cyclist(90) were killed on our roads. 30% of them were aged 65+. Over the same period, 3207 seriously injured pedestrians spent 21,472 days in hospital. 8795 of those days were spent by pedestrians aged 65+. The NZ Transport Agency has a Cycle Safety Action Plan and invests more than $350 million in urban cycling infrastructure, it has no Pedestrian Safety Action Plan and makes no dedicated investment in pedestrian infrastructure. Sports and recreation groups focus on organised pursuits. Active transport pundits focus on cycling. Groups the seniors focus on exercise classes. Researchers into ageing focus on indoor activities. But for the 90% of us who live active independent lives in the community, walking is our favourite exercise and we want to do more of it. For a safe, healthy, sustainable future: prioritise pedestrian safety now. For more information on VICTA’s pedestrian safety petition, contact: Dr. Lynley Hood enquiries@visionimpairment.org.nz or phone 027 2229779 VICTA – Visual Impairment Charitable Trust Aotearoa (NZ) Research News In Brief Cataract surgery and AMD. For patients with both visually significant cataracts and AMD, recent evidence supports the role of cataract surgery with reports demonstrating improved visual acuity, absence of significant disease progression, and improved quality of life. Recent evidence shows that cataract surgery does not cause or worsen AMD. [ ref: 6. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2017 Jan;28(1):58-62. ]
Seniors spend less time driving, and more time walking and using buses. Walking is free. It means no premises, no equipment, no training, no supervision. As a cost-effective health measure, walking’s a winner. Here's the bad news: We can't walk far if it's not safe to cross the road. Between 2006 and 2015, almost 4 times as many pedestrians (348) as cyclist(90) were killed on our roads. 30% of them were aged 65+. Over the same period, 3207 seriously injured pedestrians spent 21,472 days in hospital. 8795 of those days were spent by pedestrians aged 65+. The NZ Transport Agency has a Cycle Safety Action Plan and invests more than $350 million in urban cycling infrastructure, it has no Pedestrian Safety Action Plan and makes no dedicated investment in pedestrian infrastructure. Sports and recreation groups focus on organised pursuits. Active transport pundits focus on cycling. Groups the seniors focus on exercise classes. Researchers into ageing focus on indoor activities. But for the 90% of us who live active independent lives in the community, walking is our favourite exercise and we want to do more of it. For a safe, healthy, sustainable future: prioritise pedestrian safety now. For more information on VICTA’s pedestrian safety petition, contact: Dr. Lynley Hood enquiries@visionimpairment.org.nz or phone 027 2229779 VICTA – Visual Impairment Charitable Trust Aotearoa (NZ) Research News In Brief Cataract surgery and AMD. For patients with both visually significant cataracts and AMD, recent evidence supports the role of cataract surgery with reports demonstrating improved visual acuity, absence of significant disease progression, and improved quality of life. Recent evidence shows that cataract surgery does not cause or worsen AMD. [ ref: 6. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2017 Jan;28(1):58-62. ]