Shoe manufacturers have been able to create a plethora of different technologies to provide these essential safety features, so everyone can find a shoe that suits their personal needs.

Cushioning and flexibility primarily provide shock-absorption and shock-dispersion while support and traction primarily focus on keeping the wearer steady on their feet to reduce the likelihood of falls.

It is of the utmost importance to find a shoe that provides enough of each of these safety features to suit your needs or the needs of your elderly friend or relative without these features negating one another, as support features can sometimes negate cushioning and flexibility in shoes.

Ultimately, the amount of cushioning, support, traction, and flexibility that you need is something you must figure out for yourself. This guide will provide you with examples of safety features that provide each of the above categories.

To ascertain if the shoe you are considering purchasing contains the safety features you want, you will need to do some research online or in the store.

Another thing you may want to consider in terms of safety and protection is the type of climate a certain model was made for.

Summer and winter footwear vary greatly and require completely different aspects. We tried to include both footwear that would be appropriate in mildly cold temperatures, rain, and snow, as well as sandals more suited for summer wear, or that around the house.

Biologically, feet were designed to absorb shock - that’s why we have arches and why our feet look exactly the way they do. Unfortunately, when you are running at higher speeds or have heavier footstrikes, sometimes the shock-absorbing capabilities of your feet are insufficient and the shock travels up to your ankles, legs, hips, and lower back.

This is where cushioning in shoes comes into play. Shoes are designed to protect your feet; that’s why we wear them. Cushioning absorbs and disperses shock through the cushioning materials of the shoe, which reduces how much shock affects your feet and travels up your ankles and legs to your hips and back.

Cushioning can be found throughout the entire shoe, but some shoes have less than others. Similarly, some people need less cushioning than others, so it’s important to know what feels good on your feet and what doesn’t.

Cushioning Features

So, how do shoe manufacturers build cushioning into their shoes? There are four locations in the shoe that can have cushioning features built into it: the upper, the insole, the midsole, and the outsole. Each one of these serves its own purpose and is strategically used in different shoes in different ways.

Upper: The upper of the shoe is the part of the shoe that wraps around your foot. The most common form of cushioning found in the upper of the shoe is padding. The padding can vary from shoe to shoe and it can be anything from simple fabric padding or air-pockets enclosed within the fabric and the outer material of the shoe.

When looking for a shoe for yourself or an elderly relative or friend, you need to consider how much padding you need in the upper of the shoe.

Insole: The insole of a shoe is the part of the sole that touches your foot directly. It’s also known as the insert or the footbed. The insole can be made with several different materials from foam to fabric padding to gel pockets. Even though this part of the sole touches your foot directly, it doesn’t actually serve as major of a role in shock-absorption as the other parts of the sole! Nevertheless, the insole still needs to be considered.

An insole that is too thin and offers little to no cushioning will not be able to protect your feet from shock, which in turn reduces the shock-absorbing effectiveness of the entire sole unit and, ultimately, the entire shoe.

Midsole: The midsole unit is the MVP of the sole. It’s wedged between the insole and the outsole and generally serves multiple purposes, but one of the most important purposes that it serves is shock-absorption. Shoe manufacturers consistently use their best shock-absorbing shoe technologies in the midsole unit.

Ethyl vinyl acetate, also known as EVA, and polyurethane foams are the most common midsole technologies, but they also come in the form of air pockets. Some shoe manufacturers even use more than one of these midsole technologies in their shoes, so it’s good to look into what kind of midsole the shoe you are considering has.

Unfortunately, as we age, we sometimes find ourselves a little unsteady on our feet. Hence, support is extremely important in shoes for senior citizens.

As we walk or run, our feet naturally rotate slightly around the ankle. This natural movement is broken into two categories: pronation and supination. Pronation is the natural inward rolling of your foot as you roll your foot from heel to toe. As you push off the ground with your forefoot, your foot rolls outward while you bring your heel around for the footstrike. This outward rolling of your foot is called supination.

People who have normal pronation and supination - a fifteen-degree roll inward and outward - usually don’t have as many problems with shock-absorption and stability, because their feet are more efficient at absorbing shock and maintaining balance. Unfortunately, many of us don’t have normal pronation and supination.

Overpronation occurs when your foot naturally rolls inward too much and usually comes with hyposupination when your foot does not roll outward enough to compensate for the overpronation. Underpronation occurs when your foot doesn’t roll inward enough and usually comes with hypersupination, which is when your foot rolls outward too much.

People who have pronation and supination problems generally have arch and heel pain and can develop serious medical conditions, such as plantar fasciitis. As the ability of the foot to absorb shock and to maintain balance is also reduced by pronation and supination problems, these problems can also result in additional strain and shock affecting the foot, ankle, leg, hips, and lower back.

The foot’s weakened ability to maintain balance can also result in rolling a foot or an ankle, which can result in a serious fall and injury.

Support Features

Fortunately, shoe manufacturers have invested time and money into researching and creating new shoe technologies that help promote your stability by supporting your feet in the areas that need it most.

Support features can be built into the upper, midsole, and outsole of the shoe and it is important to consider each of these regions when making a selection.

Upper: The upper, as mentioned above, can be padded for shock-absorption and comfort. However, the upper also plays a vital role in maintaining your balance and supporting your feet.

Most of the shoes on this list of great shoes for the elderly have firm leather or synthetic uppers. These uppers reduce your risk of rolling a foot and sometimes for rolling an ankle if the upper comes up high enough.

Some of the shoes on this list combine breathable mesh uppers with synthetic or leather overlays that give the shoe a sort of exoskeleton that helps support your foot. These shoes can be quite effective, but the best supportive uppers for the elderly are more firm leather or synthetic materials than mesh.

Full-Foot Supports: Sometimes, shoe manufacturers use firmer foams as the cushioning in the midsole. The firmer midsole foam acts as both shock-absorbing foam and as support. Like a mattress, not everyone is satisfied with the same amount of cushion and support. The more firm that midsole unit is, the better the support.

For people with pronation and supination problems, shoe manufacturers created full-length foam wedges to use in the midsole. The most commonly taper off to one side to correct overpronation problems. However, foam units aren’t the only means of full-foot support that shoe manufacturers use.

They also use full-foot length shanks made of thermoplastic polyurethane, wood, plastic, or steel, depending on the type of shoe you are looking to invest in. Thermoplastic polyurethane, or TPU, shanks are the most common as they are more flexible than steel and firmer than just plastic. It absorbs shock and helps to stabilize your gait.

Arch Supports: Arch supports can come in the form of foam wedges, air pockets, or midfoot support shanks- all of which are found beneath the arch. Arch supports are especially important for people with high arches and for people with pronation and supination problems.

Heel Supports: For people with heel and back pain, heel support features can really make an impact. Commonly, heel cups, extra-depth uppers, and supportive rings with cushioning are used to produce a supportive effect which often also helps absorb shock. Heel cups are a solid piece of a firm substance that is used to cup the heel and provide it with support.

Supportive heel rings serve a similar purpose, but these firm units are rings that are filled with powerful cushioning materials to increase the shock-absorption as well as the wearer’s stability. Extra-depth uppers create a more comfortable environment for your heel because the heel and Achilles tendon won’t be rubbed abrasively by the heel counter.

Outsole: The outsole is best known for providing traction and grip to reduce your risk of falling. However, just as it can with shock-absorption, the outsole can also be designed to support your whole foot or specific areas of your foot that need it most. Nearly every major shoe manufacturer has their own outsole technologies utilizing shanks, firm materials in the outsole, interlocking outsole units, and supportive tread design.

For support, however, we will focus on the outsole material and support specific outsole technologies that are most commonly found in shoes.

Outsole Material: The most supportive outsole materials are leather, rubber, and firm synthetics. However, as we have already discussed, leather does not absorb shock well, so it would be best to eliminate any shoe with a leather outsole from the running. It should be noted, however, that the leather outsole can be more supportive than rubber or synthetics.

If grip and cushioning are not major concerns of yours, then the leather outsole may serve your needs better than rubber and synthetics could.

Outsole Pattern: The outsole pattern varies by manufacturer and within each brand, the outsole also varies from model to model of shoe. The biggest thing you should consider for the outsole pattern when evaluating it for supportive benefits is the location of the firmest parts of the outsole.

Some shoes come with an under-arch support beam built into the outsole rather than the midsole to save the midsole unit for cushioning, for example. These shoes often have an asymmetrical groove pattern that connects different areas of the outsole to the rest. This is most common in interlocking outsole parts.

When you look at the bottom of the shoe, if there are pieces of rubber or synthetic material that are a different color and shape than the rest of the outsole of the shoe, then that means the outsole uses two or more different compounds to provide you with the best support and shock-absorption.

Supportive Air Cushioning: Some outsoles have dense air pockets or small support springs built into them. These pockets and springs are great for shock-absorption, but they can also provide excellent support. The dense air pockets raise your heel to provide more support, as do the support springs and beams.

strong>Shanks: Shanks in the best casual shoes are usually made of hardened polyurethane. They can be found solely in the heel, solely in the midfoot, or across the entire foot as a full-length shank. They help provide support where you need it.

You need traction both to propel yourself forward and to stabilize your step and help you travel safely. The primary way that manufacturers provide traction is by using effective groove patterns that help the shoe grip the ground.

The most effective groove patterns are deeper than others and extend to the very edges of the outsole. This second part is extra important. The grooves in your sole that help your shoes grip the ground are utterly useless in wet conditions if they do not extend all the way to the edges of the shoe. To illustrate why this is important, consider the car analogy we used earlier about shock. Now, picture yourself driving a car across half an inch or more of water.

Odds are, you’re going to hydroplane, which happens when the car floats a bit on the water and the water separates tires from the road, which makes their treads useless for maintaining balance. The same thing is true for your shoes. If you walk in the water and the treads on the bottom of your shoes don’t allow water to escape, it will fill the grooves and then you slip.

The specific outsole pattern will vary by manufacturer and shoe model, but by and large, the pattern doesn’t explicitly matter, as long as the grooves are neither too deep nor too shallow, neither too wide nor too thin, and at least some of the grooves extend to the very edge of the outsole.

This prevents your risk of running-related injuries. The best shoes for elderly come with flexible uppers and flexible soles. There are a number of ways that manufacturers promote flexibility, but it is important to make sure that the shoe isn’t so flexible that it has no support.

To further help the shoe absorb and disperse shock, manufacturers have developed special flex grooves to help the shoe bend naturally with your foot. However, too many flex grooves can reduce the support that the shoe offers and flex grooves that are too deep can, as well. So, look for a balance of firmness and flexibility, because this can really impact your comfort as well as your health.