[dkga]

I think it is also more than that. In car-centric places like Brazil or the US, older people essentially need to drive or be driven around to have a social life. In pedestrian friendly cities like many in Europe, it is very common to see older people walking to meet their friends/relatives. I saw it all the time in Switzerland. Even those with severely limited mobility would prefer to actively walk or take the tram/bus somewhere (no matter how much time it took) than stay at home.

[benchwright]

Can agree with this (to a certain extent). Spending time in both America and Ireland, there's a definite difference in the extent to which "I can only get there by car versus public transit/other types of transport" is incorporated into the culture. By far, more urban/suburban/rural density with appropriate public transportation support leads to more freedom to walk, bike, etc. Geographically, however, there are clear reasons why places like the US and Brazil have a strong incentive to rely on cars over anything else. Distance between cities and towns, poor public transport (esp. outside of urban areas in the US), etc. cause this to be an issue.

[rsynnott]

Ireland actually arguably has a bit of a crisis coming up there; over the last 40 years or so one-off housing (ie rural housing completely in the middle of nowhere, rather than in villages) became more and more common, until the planners clamped down on it. The people living in those houses, which are completely impossible to serve with public transport and utterly dependent on cars, are going to age, and sooner or later it is going to become a serious problem, because once they're unable to drive they'll be trapped in their homes.

It's not a big proportion of housing on a national scale, but still enough that people living in completely isolated houses in more common in Ireland than in most places, and enough that it could become a serious wellbeing problem as the residents age.