Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/12868
Title: What factors support older people to increase their physical activity levels? An exploratory analysis of the experiences of PACE-Lift trial participants
Authors: Victor, CR
Rogers, A
Woodcock, A
Beighton, C
Cook, DG
Kerry, SM
Iliffe, S
Whincup, P
Ussher, M
Harris, T
Keywords: Physical activity;Walking intervention;Couples;Older people;Behaviour change
Issue Date: 2016
Publisher: Elsevier
Citation: Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 67: pp. 1-6, (2016)
Abstract: Background - Physical Activity (PA) has significant health benefits for older adults, but nearly all UK over 60’s are not achieving recommended levels. The PACE-Lift primary care-based walking intervention for 60-75 year-olds used a structured, theoretically grounded intervention with pedometers, accelerometers, handbooks and support from practice nurses trained in behaviour change techniques. It demonstrated an objective increase in walking at 3 and 12 months. We investigated the experiences of intervention participants who did (and did not) increase their walking, in order to explore facilitators to increased walking. Methods - Semi-structured telephone interviews used an interview schedule with a purposive sample of 30 intervention participants, 19 who had objectively increased their walking over the previous year and 11 who had not. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and coded independently by researchers to generate a thematic coding framework. Results - Both groups confirmed that walking was an appropriate PA for people of ‘their age’. The majority of those with increased walking participated in the trial as a couple, were positive about individualised goal-setting, developed strategies for maintaining their walking, and had someone to walk with. Non-improvers reported their attempts to increase walking were difficult because of lack of social support and were less positive about the intervention’s behaviour change components. Discussion - Walking is an acceptable and appropriate PA intervention for older people. The intervention’s goal-setting components were important for those who increased their walking. Mutual support between partners participating as a couple and having someone to walk with also facilitated increased walking.
URI: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167494316301078
http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/12868
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2016.06.006
ISSN: 0167-4943
Appears in Collections:Dept of Health Sciences Research Papers

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