Abstract

Currently, the elderly population is increasing worldwide, and it is necessary to pay attention to the needs of this group of society. One of the basic needs of the elderly is access to public spaces, which has a significant impact on their physical and mental health. For this purpose, the current research was carried out to measure the relationship between access to urban public spaces and the general health (physical and mental) of the elderly at the neighborhood level in Region 4 of Rasht city. This research is applied in terms of purpose, descriptive-analytical in terms of method, and documentary and survey-based in terms of data collection methods. The statistical population of the research comprised elderly residents in Region 4 of Rasht Municipality. The sample size was estimated to be 400 people using the Cochran formula. To assess the mental health of the elderly, the GHQ-28 questionnaire was used, and to evaluate the access to public spaces of urban, a researcher-made questionnaire was employed. its validity was confirmed through content validity, and its reliability was obtained as 0/79 using Cronbach's alpha method. Also, the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as an index of tendency to the center (standard deviation and mean), and statistical tests such as Pearson correlation and multivariate regression. The research findings showed that there is the significant and inverse correlation (r= -0/657) between mental health variables with access to public spaces.