A study on the influencing factors of senior mountaineering experience based on explanatory structural modelling

With the aging of the population, it has become increasingly important to enhance the quality of life and social participation of the elderly. Although outdoor activities such as mountaineering are beneficial to the physical and mental health of the elderly, they are also accompanied by certain risks. Existing mobility aids mainly focus on daily life, and there is a lack of specialised research on mountaineering activities. In this study, we adopt the Interpretative Structural Model (ISM) method to analyse the factors affecting the mountaineering experience of elderly users from the perspective of the "human-machine-environment" system and construct a hierarchical structural model. Based on user interviews with 15 senior citizens aged 60 to 65 who have mountaineering experience, 37 factors affecting mountaineering experience were summarised and extracted, and a structural diagram of the relationship between the factors in the system was drawn together with the expert interviews. By establishing the adjacency matrix and calculating the reachability matrix of the system, we carry out hierarchical decomposition and model building, and sort out a 14-layer progressive hierarchical structure diagram of the mountaineering assistance product system for the elderly. This study provides a practical reference for mountaineering products designed for the elderly, and suggests that the product design should take into full consideration of the elderly's economic ability, risk awareness, athletic ability, physical cognition, and the efficiency of the product mobility aid, in order to enhance their mountaineering experience.