Museums as social and cultural spaces for active ageing: evidence, challenges, and opportunities

A BSTRACT : The work addresses access to Museums as cultural spaces by older adults in Mexico. The access, use, and knowledge they have regarding museums are analyzed. The analysis is carried out by rural or urban origin, travel time, gender, education levels, among other variables. The database used is the Museum Statistics for 2017 published by INEGI in 2018 and the method used consisted of crossing variables. The National Statistical Directory of Economic Units database was accessed to cross-check statistical information with georeferenced points of museums throughout the country. The work adds two different dimensions of study, 1) to the studies of aging and old age, when verifying the mobility, cultural interests and social connectivity of the elderly and, 2) to the studies on museums and cultural spaces, by demonstrating the persistence of access and interest on the part of older adults.

paper, we seek to characterize museum access and use patterns by elderly adults at the national level and compare those to patterns of younger adults. We also disaggregate some elderly use patterns across gender (reported in the survey as a binary variable between male and female).
We hypothesize that aged 60+ elderly adults' use of museums often differs from the use by younger adults between the ages 18-59. On social dimension variables, we expected older adults to be less likely to have received family stimulus for cultural consumption, more likely to be first time visitors, more likely to visit alone (related to social isolation), and likely to be less educated than their younger adult peers.
On access dimension variables, we expect a higher reliance on public transit use and walking by younger adults, greater times traveled by older adults, and lower rates of participation by older rural adults compared to younger rural adults due to a combination of transportation access and bodily ability differences among older residents. For the purposes of this paper, we will not be able to definitively explain the reasons behind the differences observed, but we can suggest possible explanations and avenues for further research. Based on the patterns observed, Museum Institutions may consider specialized programs and service considerations to support active ageing functions to attract older patrons and create spaces that older adults can use to increase their active aging and social connectedness. Table 1 shows hypotheses based on the variables we studied, grouped according to the Active Ageing framework proposed by the World Health Organization (2002).
includes physical health status, mental health, and social connectedness. Some results suggest that interventions on social isolation could improve structural social support, functional social support, loneliness, and mental and physical health (Dickens et al., 2011).
In its 2002 report, Active Ageing. A Policy Framework, the World Health Organization (WHO) makes clear that "active" refers to "continuing participation in social, economic, cultural, spiritual and civic affairs, not just the ability to be physically active or to participate in the labor force" (2002: 12). The WHO policy framework focuses on six components for active ageing: Behavioral Determinants, Health and Social Services, Economic Determinants, Social Determinants, Physical Environment, and Personal Determinants.
Some of those determinants are related to systems and services that might be offered to the elderly by the state or by market actors. Others connect more closely to elders' practices or their backgrounds. We highlight three determinants of the Active Ageing framework for our purposes, as seen in Figure 1. The first concerns Social Determinants, which focus on preventing loneliness, social isolation, illiteracy, and lack of education, all of which are related to older people's risk of disabilities and early death (WHO, 2002: 28). Various studies have demonstrated that social support and connectedness prevent stress and can reduce the rate of decline of physical and mental well-being (House et al., 1988;WHO, 2002, ILC, 2015. Rowe and Kahn (1998) have concluded that social integration is a key factor to successful ageing (Rowe & Kahn, 1998). Belonging to a group that shares interests and activities, volunteering, strong intergenerational relations, long-time friendship (former workmates, schoolmates, or neighbors) shapes not only social networks for elderly people but also influence their abilities to stay informed and connected in a society that is becoming more and more digitally driven (Gonzalez-Oñate et al., 2015;Jung & Sundar, 2016).
Though ageing is associated with social isolation, elders use various strategies to maintain social connections and build new relationships. In response to sedentary and less mobile lifestyles in older age, going to a museum can be a means to avoid reduced physical activity and its consequences (Palmer et al., 2019). Leisure time and social activities can decrease isolation -leading to depression, cognitive impairment, and mortality (Lubben, 2017). Indeed, there is a scholarship that characterizes museums as a social experience (Coffee, 2007). Access to knowledge of their social space, including leisure activities, also is key to active ageing and social connectedness (Sinclair & Grieve, 2017;Cardozo et al., 2017). According to literature (González-Oñate, et al., 2015;Sinclair & Grieve, 2017;Yu et vol. 9, núm. (Mo et al., 2018), and also improving their access to social benefits (Yu et al., 2018).
The second determinant group we use is Personal Determinants. Literature evaluating museum use demonstrates that elderly visitors are generally interested in visiting museums (Rogers 1998, Tufts & Milne 1999. Prior knowledge (Antón, Camarero, & Garrido, 2018) and post-visit activity (Antón, Camarero, & Garrido, 2019) have been linked to satisfactory experiences among visitors in general. Affect, and emotion have also been widely understood to be important factors in shaping museum use and satisfaction (Del Chiappa, Andreu, & Gallarza, 2014). Fewer studies specifically focus on elder patrons as units of study. Elottol & Bauhaudin (2011) studied the perception and satisfaction of elderly museum patrons in Malaysia. They find that satisfaction among elderly patrons is related to interior pathway design and circulation accessibility (Elottol & Bauhaudin, 2011: 277 Zamorano et al., 2012;Sánchez y Cortés, 2016). Studies from gerontological planning of the physical and social environment perspective suggest that there is still a lot to do regarding spatial mobility for older adults in Latin America (Salas & Sánchez, 2014;Sánchez y Cortés, 2016). Pioneers of ageing studies in Mexico warned about the lack of readiness of certain urban systems facing the ageing process (Welti, 2001;Serrano et al., 2009). Nowadays, diverse research focuses on analyzing and preparing cities and programs to offer friendly and accessible spaces for older adults (Pregazzi, 2017;Zamorano et al., 2012). Recent studies focus on human rights for the elderly (Huenchuan & Rodríguez-Piñeiro, 2010;Rodriguez et al., 2018) and also on their autonomy, mobility, and adaptation (Hernandez, 2018). With respect to museums, the number of museums and their spatial distribution likely impacts elders' use.
Graph 1 illustrates the temporal pattern of Mexican Museum openings since the beginning of the 20th century. Over 90% of the museums cataloged in the DENUE 1 database opened in 1970 or later. Museums became more involved in economic, political, and social issues from the 1970s (Prince, 1990). This was because culture took on a more central role within the social consciousness that connected territory, museums, and society (Gilabert & Lorente, 2016) through a "dialectic interrelation between culture, identity and heritage" (Alonso, 1993;cited in Gilabert and Lorente, 2016: 58). We consider this an important pre-condition for elders to rely on museums to express and satisfy social and cultural interests over time.
1 Directorio Estadístico Nacional de Unidades Económicas [National Statistical Directory of Economic Units] is a system managed by INEGI that offers users to get data for all active businesses in the country. It allows the identification of economic units by name, size, location, economic activity, and legal representation. It was a very useful tool for the identification of museums and their spatial location.  (Komatsu, 2003: 2). The geography of museum locations has dispersed in concert with the expansion in numbers both in rural and urban areas, which is relevant to residential proximity and transportation access today. The degree to which museum operation in Mexico specifically targets the accommodation of elderly patrons likely varies across institutions and may be a useful avenue for future research. Map 1 (using geolocation data from DENUE) and Table 2 (using museum municipality data and urban/rural status by population from INEGI) show patterns of museum location nationwide. use was more likely than transit use for residents up to 44 years of age than for residents older than 44 (Guerra et al., 2018: 102). Harbering and Schlüter (2020) find a similarly gendered pattern in the Metropolitan Area of the Mexico Valley, where women are more likely to use transit than cars, and add that higher education is positively associated with car use. Other studies outside of Mexico (O'Fallon and Sullivan, 2003) indicate that car usage can be expected to be higher for leisure trips in some cases.
Lastly, we take into consideration differences among male and female reporting Studies about gender in old age point to several differences among men and women, this is undoubtedly influenced by the fact that women can be disadvantaged in comparison to men when it comes to labor, income, and educational attainment (Freixas, 1997;Muñoz & Espinosa, 2008;Fernández-Mayoralas et al., 2015). Safety is a concern that affects both transportation and the use of public space (Yavuz & Welch, 2010 To investigate the three components of an active ageing framework on Mexican visitors to museums, we compare adults aged 18-59 to adults 60 and overusing crosstab analysis. To expand further, we apply a gender analysis to disaggregate older visitors into male and female respondents to determine if gender differences appear in elderly visit characteristics.

Data and Methodology
Studies on cultural access and cultural consumption regarding museums in Mexico continue to grow. During the 1980s and 1990s, research on museums and cultural access accelerated, but still, it is short nowadays (Schmilchuk, 2012;García, 1993García, & 1999Rosas 2002Rosas & 2007. Scholars have noted a political dimension to using time to visit spaces conceived for leisure and information. The use of time "constructs us as citizens, as social individuals, it impulses or bans us to think, feel and act on reality and on ourselves" (Schmilchuk, 2000: 79). Schmilchuk (2000) advocated for a better understanding of the experience of museum use and thus for better databases about museums and their visitors.
She emphasized the necessity of knowing more about those elements to improve not only ISSN 2448-539X https://doi.org/10.22234/recu.20210901.e588 14 museums per se but visitors' investment (in time spent and physical effort) and visitors' perceptions.
There is a relatively short list of databases related to cultural access and venues in Mexico. The most recent effort is the Estadistica de Museos. It ran in 2016, and it is planned to continue yearly. This database allows users to learn more about museum institutions, access, size, and their visitors. The database has three components -a survey of museum institutions' characteristics, museum institutions' volunteership and social service offerings, and museum visitors' characteristics collected in interviews of patrons by museum staff.
In response to García's (1993)  In addition, respondents answered yes or no to a series of questions regarding whom they visited and their motivations to visit, and each respondent has the ability to select multiple responses. We present the percentage of respondents who reported a given motivation or type of companion to compare these variables.

Social and Personal Dimensions of Museum Use
In In addition to their role as places of history, knowledge, and memory (Sandell, 2003), museums also serve as points for meetings, for social, academic, and cultural activities (Camic & Chatterjee, 2013;Antunes & Jesus, 2018  We also analyzed if the visit they were surveyed was their very first visit to any museum. somebody (26%). For the younger adults, the same top three motivations were reported at the following rates: cultural engagement (45%), learning (31%), and accompanying another (25%). For the elderly, cultural motivations were higher than the population average. This pattern was surprising since fewer of them received family stimulussuggesting that the impetus for cultural engagement comes from multiple sources. These reports from visitors demonstrate the intent to use museums for precisely the types of activities that support active ageing. Some research has found that the elderly see museums as options to be active, engaged, and healthy (Hovi-assad, 2016; Huijg et al.,

2017) since it is an activity that makes them go out move and interact with their
surroundings.
Educational background is another important dimension of active ageing. Table 5 shows the education levels of visitors compared to nationwide averages by age groups. We find that, contrary to expectations, elderly visitors are, in fact, more likely to have higher educations than the younger adult visitors in addition to having higher educations than the population at large. Such a pattern could be the result of self-selection where education level relates to an interest in visiting, the result of barriers to entry where education level relates to sociospatial advantage and facilitates easier access for the educated, or a combination of the two. However, elderly visitor populations had proportionally larger groups with little to no education. This would be consistent with the finding that many elderly visitors report learning (31%) as a motivation to visit -older adults with lower educational attainment may see museums as an opportunity for continued learning.
Regardless, it is clear that the universe of visitors we studied is not representative of the  We also investigated the method of discovery among different visitors. Literature refers to the importance of prior knowledge to the experience of museum visitors, and thus how individuals find out about exhibits/museums may influence the active ageing potential of museums. Older visitors reported social relationships like friends and family (32.3%), past knowledge of the museum (22%), followed by Offices of Touristic Information (11%) were the top three ways they encountered the museums. Younger visitors reported slight differences, learning of the museums by friends and family relatives (31%), teachers (15%), and past knowledge of the museum (15%). Internet use was low among both groups, though lower as expected among the older visitor group. Only 3% of older adults said they used SNS, and only 6.2% used the Internet to know about the museum. We also explored whether the visit to a museum was planned or not, considering that planning activities can be important to maintaining physical and mental well-being for elders (Huijg et al., 2017).
We found out that 52% of the overall visitors did plan their visit. Rates were similar among the older adult groups (54% or 5,642) and the younger adult groups (52% or 62,090) in planning visits prior to attending museums. Older adults planned slightly more frequently, but overall large portions of both groups chose to visit more spontaneously, an ability likely influenced by the freedom of time, spatial proximity, and transportation access.
How a museum is used helps to understand its potential as a site for active ageing; thus, we explored use patterns. which funding becomes precarious. Of note is the gap between the rate of provision of ability devices to support physical ability (14%) and the rate of use by visitors (0.4%). It may be the case that individuals with less physical ability face transportation challenges in reaching museums or may bring their own devices and therefore lack the need for temporary options. However, greater support inside and outside museums is likely needed to ensure active ageing can occur despite ability differences.
As part of the social determinants involved in active ageing, nurture of education keeps elders socially connected and active within society. This gives them tools to keep their knowledge updated and avoid social isolation and the consequences that come with it. Curiosity has many places and times for satisfaction, and certainly, museums are locations where elders can nurture their knowledge and curiosity. Our analysis showed that 61% (1,973 of 3,225) of elders whose motivation to go to a museum was "Learn" reported the highest learning score of 10, while 58% of those who did not report learning as a motivation reported a learning score of 10 (4,142 of 7,194). Overall, compared with younger adults (53%), a higher share of elderly visitors (60.5%) reported the highest level of learning. Regardless of age group, or whether learning was an explicit goal, most visitors report having learned something new after visiting. In this way, elders and other adults are able to use museums for lifelong learning as consistent with existing literature (Hsieh, 2010;Camic & Chatterjee, 2013;Galvanese et al., 2014). The spatial pattern of museums demonstrates some dispersal of institutions with notable clustering around Mexico City and Guadalajara. In general, the vast majority of museums recorded in the INEGI (2018) survey (roughly 90%) are located in municipalities considered as urban (return to Table 2 and Map 1). For elder and younger adult patrons alike, this means that living in a rural area may make it harder to access museums based on travel.
For elders living in urban residences, who may be closer to museum locations, transportation accessibility may be an important factor shaping their museum use. This consideration is relevant considering that approximately half of the visitors reported visits in which the trip was not planned. Contrary to our hypothesis, older rural adults did not have lower rates of museum visits than younger rural adults (though total numbers were lower). The survey data indicates that in 2017 very few patrons reported living in rural municipalities, regardless of age group. Of the 129,652 patrons in the sample, 4,149 (3%) reported dwelling in a rural municipality. As seen in Table 6, adults aged 18-59 and adults over 60 who participated in the survey separately reported the same rate (3%) of rural dwellings ( Using data collected through the survey, we analyzed travel time and time spent in the museum (see Table 7). On average, older adults traveled longer periods and spent more time during the visit. There were some differences across gender, with older females visiting longer than older males. Table 8 shows travel times in greater detail. For rural dwellers, travel time followed similar patterns between age groups. 78% of younger adults traveled one hour or less to reach the museum destination, while 80% of elderly patrons took trips of that length.
The majority of younger (54%) and elderly (59%) adults traveled 30 minutes or fewer to their museum destination, older patrons being more likely to take short trips. This was not surprising -as older patrons could be expected to prefer shorter trips, or possibly transportation access could be a barrier for some elders who would otherwise require longer trips. In terms of visit duration for patrons coming from rural residences, young and old visitors alike reported visits of up to one hour between 78 and 79 percent of the time (see Table 8). The preferred mode of transportation appeared to follow a more distinct pattern by age, however. While younger and older adults from rural areas used private vehicles at roughly the same rates (42.55% and 43.41%, respectively) and walked at roughly the same rates (21.22% and 20.96%, respectively), their use of other modes varied. 24.22% of younger rural adults used public transit, while only 19.42% of older adults did the same.
The reduced use of public transit among elderly patrons is consistent with the literature on public transit accessibility for their age group, following that the level of public transit services tends to be less robust in less densely populated areas and México, public transit is not designed adequately for older adults' use (Melgar et al., 2013;.
It is demonstrated that the use of public transit is a gesture of autonomy. It makes the elderly "take control of their own lives" (Attoh, 2017: 205  The use of tourist transit over public transit appears to matter for older patrons. In all, elderly and younger patrons appeared to use museums at similar rates. Accessibility appeared to be more related to whether a resident lived in an urban or rural setting than whether they were above or below 60. For elders, proximity to museums appears to be important, as evidenced by high proportions of trips under 30 minutes and surprising proportions of rural walking visitors. Gender Table 10 shows gender differences in our sample of respondents. In this age group, women were about as likely as men to visit a museum during that year. Elderly women did spend longer times during their visits than their male counterparts and were more likely to plan their visits. For both groups, family members were the most common accompaniment. According to Toepoel (2013: 366), "Partners, children, and friends can serve as facilitators for cultural participation for the oldest." Women reported going with a friend more often, and men reported going alone or with a romantic partner. Elderly women's lower likelihood of visiting alone could have to do with a combination of cost, access, or safety issues.
Presumably, the majority of partnered elderly visitors were in heterosexual relationships -so the partnership findings may reflect sampling bias in the survey process (e.g., talking to one partner and not the other in the method of discovery, where males relied on prior knowledge more often, and females relied on social relationships and tourist offices more often. That corresponds with the transport mode findings, which demonstrate females were more likely to use tourist transport and public transit, while males were more likely to walk or take a personal vehicle.

Discussion and Conclusion
In this paper, we sought to explore elderly museum use and access in Mexico using new national level data in the context of active ageing, with a focus on personal, social, and physical dimensions. We found that some elders are able to use museums for recreation, learning, and maintaining social connection and engagement, though their preferences and obstacles may at times vary from those of younger adults. At the same time, some ISSN 2448-539X https://doi.org/10.22234/recu. 20210901.e588 31 findings hint at potential exclusivities that may reduce the ability to participate in certain groups. We consider future avenues for research below.
While we did not measure the average price of entry or senior discount information, 2 we know that having leisure time and disposable income are signs of relative class advantage, in addition to transportation options like private vehicles. Other hints that income/wealth matters include the high proportion of highly educated visitors among elderly and younger adults, the use of tourist industry services to learn about, travel to and visit museums, and the ability to visit without planning, as reported by nearly half of respondents. How income/wealth precisely impacts the interest, access, and use of museums by elderly visitors in Mexico and elsewhere is a worthwhile area of continued study.
We are also able to infer the importance of proximity and transportation access to museum use. Since 48% of visitors did not plan their visits, and over 50% of visitors in each age group in both rural and urban locations traveled 30 min or fewer to reach a museum, it appears that convenience helps to play a role. This finding should be analyzed in the context of ability differences among elders -continuing to find ways to enhance design and programming to enable people with mobility support needs to enjoy museums would likely improve the active ageing potential of museums. Similarly, women relied more heavily on public transport matters -in places where transit is sparse, this may affect some women's ability to visit. Transportation access will largely be decided by local and regional ISSN 2448-539X https://doi.org/10.22234/recu.20210901.e588 32 planning and policy decisions and, therefore, likely be outside museum purview. Still, museums might in some cases, be able to partner with public transit agencies or private transportation companies for specialized services to improve access.
Findings also hint at other opportunities to support active ageing through museum programming. While 44% of museums in the INEGI database reported providing arts and cultural programming, only 5% of respondents in the same year reported using such services. Elders in particular, and adults in general, report cultural engagement as a priority motivation to visit and likely achieve a degree of cultural satisfaction through exhibits and guided visits. However, activities outside of exhibits might offer greater opportunities for meeting new people, considering that most of the social interactions we measured among elders were based on preexisting social relationships. For folks who visit alone or individuals who could use an expanded social network, such structured activities could be helpful. In general, greater qualitative and qualitative inquiry into the curiosities and interests of existing and potential patrons could help create museum spaces that invite and retain elderly visits. Lastly, museums offer institutional mechanisms to support lifelong learning. Whether or not learning was reported as a motivation, a high proportion of visitors reported high learning outcomes. To continue to support active ageing, increasing museums access and use among elders will be critical.