Social Interaction and Physical Activity Among Rural Older Adults: A Scoping Review

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Laurie L. Schmidt ◽  
Shanthi Johnson ◽  
M. Rebecca Genoe ◽  
Bonnie Jeffery ◽  
Jennifer Crawford
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Social Aspect ◽  
The Social ◽  
Critical Components ◽  
Rural Older Adults

Social interaction and physical activity are critical components in supporting health among older adults, yet rates of activity are low in rural communities. There is significant merit in exploring the relationship between these interrelated concepts. A scoping review was conducted to synthesize existing literature. Search results identified 26 studies meeting inclusion criteria. Findings indicated that social interaction and physical activity were important for many older adults to maintain health; however, not all older adults preferred the social aspect of group-based exercise. Opportunities for physical activity and social interaction were limited based on geographical location and other socioeconomic factors. This was evident in rural communities where populations were lower and education and income levels varied. Differences on the defining role and meaning of physical activity also emerged. Increasing physical activity and social interaction must account for negative associations to address the lower rates of participation among rural older adults.

scholarly journals Social Support Patterns of Middle-Aged and Older Adults Within a Physical Activity App: Secondary Mixed Method Analysis

JMIR Aging ◽  
10.2196/12496 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. e12496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zakkoyya H Lewis ◽  
Maria C Swartz ◽  
Eloisa Martinez ◽  
Elizabeth J Lyons
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
The Social ◽  
Method Analysis

Background Physical activity (PA) is critical for maintaining independence and delaying mobility disability in aging adults. However, 27 to 44% of older adults in the United States are meeting the recommended PA level. Activity trackers are proving to be a promising tool to promote PA adherence through activity tracking and enhanced social interaction features. Although social support has been known to be an influential behavior change technique to promote PA, how middle-aged and older adults use the social interaction feature of mobile apps to provide virtual support to promote PA engagement remains mostly underexplored. Objective This study aimed to describe the social support patterns of middle-aged and older adults using a mobile app as part of a behavioral PA intervention. Methods Data from 35 participants (mean age 61.66 [SD 6] years) in a 12-week, home-based activity intervention were used for this secondary mixed method analysis. Participants were provided with a Jawbone Up24 activity monitor and an Apple iPad Mini installed with the UP app to facilitate self-monitoring and social interaction. All participants were given an anonymous account and encouraged to interact with other participants using the app. Social support features included comments and likes. Thematic coding was used to identify the type of social support provided within the UP app and characterize the levels of engagement from users. Participants were categorized as superusers or contributors, and passive participants were categorized as lurkers based on the literature. Results Over the 12-week intervention, participants provided a total of 3153 likes and 1759 comments. Most participants (n=25) were contributors, with 4 categorized as superusers and 6 categorized as lurkers. Comments were coded as emotional support, informational support, instrumental support, self-talk, and other, with emotional support being the most prevalent type. Conclusions Our cohort of middle-aged and older adults was willing to use the social network feature in an activity app to communicate with anonymous peers. Most of our participants were contributors. In addition, the social support provided through the activity app followed social support constructs. In sum, PA apps are a promising tool for delivering virtual social support to enhance PA engagement and have the potential to make a widespread impact on PA promotion. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01869348; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01869348

scholarly journals Social Support Patterns of Middle-Aged and Older Adults Within a Physical Activity App: Secondary Mixed Method Analysis (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zakkoyya H Lewis ◽  
Maria C Swartz ◽  
Eloisa Martinez ◽  
Elizabeth J Lyons
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
The Social ◽  
Method Analysis

BACKGROUND Physical activity (PA) is critical for maintaining independence and delaying mobility disability in aging adults. However, 27 to 44% of older adults in the United States are meeting the recommended PA level. Activity trackers are proving to be a promising tool to promote PA adherence through activity tracking and enhanced social interaction features. Although social support has been known to be an influential behavior change technique to promote PA, how middle-aged and older adults use the social interaction feature of mobile apps to provide virtual support to promote PA engagement remains mostly underexplored. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to describe the social support patterns of middle-aged and older adults using a mobile app as part of a behavioral PA intervention. METHODS Data from 35 participants (mean age 61.66 [SD 6] years) in a 12-week, home-based activity intervention were used for this secondary mixed method analysis. Participants were provided with a Jawbone Up24 activity monitor and an Apple iPad Mini installed with the UP app to facilitate self-monitoring and social interaction. All participants were given an anonymous account and encouraged to interact with other participants using the app. Social support features included comments and likes. Thematic coding was used to identify the type of social support provided within the UP app and characterize the levels of engagement from users. Participants were categorized as superusers or contributors, and passive participants were categorized as lurkers based on the literature. RESULTS Over the 12-week intervention, participants provided a total of 3153 likes and 1759 comments. Most participants (n=25) were contributors, with 4 categorized as superusers and 6 categorized as lurkers. Comments were coded as emotional support, informational support, instrumental support, self-talk, and other, with emotional support being the most prevalent type. CONCLUSIONS Our cohort of middle-aged and older adults was willing to use the social network feature in an activity app to communicate with anonymous peers. Most of our participants were contributors. In addition, the social support provided through the activity app followed social support constructs. In sum, PA apps are a promising tool for delivering virtual social support to enhance PA engagement and have the potential to make a widespread impact on PA promotion. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01869348; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01869348

scholarly journals Promoting Physical Activity in Japanese Older Adults Using a Social Pervasive Game: Randomized Controlled Trial

10.2196/16458 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. e16458
Author(s):  
Luciano Henrique De Oliveira Santos ◽  
Kazuya Okamoto ◽  
Ryo Otsuki ◽  
Shusuke Hiragi ◽  
Goshiro Yamamoto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Pervasive Games ◽  
Design Elements ◽  
Play Activity ◽  
The Social ◽  
Proportional Change ◽  
Pervasive Game ◽  
Baseline Values

Background Pervasive games aim to create more fun and engaging experiences by mixing elements from the real world into the game world. Because they intermingle with players’ lives and naturally promote more casual gameplay, they could be a powerful strategy to stimulate physical activity among older adults. However, to use these games more effectively, it is necessary to understand how design elements of the game affect player behavior. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate how the presence of a specific design element, namely social interaction, would affect levels of physical activity. Methods Participants were recruited offline and randomly assigned to control and intervention groups in a single-blind design. Over 4 weeks, two variations of the same pervasive game were compared: with social interaction (intervention group) and with no social interaction (control group). In both versions, players had to walk to physical locations and collect virtual cards, but the social interaction version allowed people to collaborate to obtain more cards. Changes in the weekly step counts were used to evaluate the effect on each group, and the number of places visited was used as an indicator of play activity. Results A total of 20 participants were recruited (no social interaction group, n=10; social interaction group, n=10); 18 participants remained active until the end of the study (no social interaction group, n=9; social interaction group, n=9). Step counts during the first week were used as the baseline level of physical activity (no social interaction group: mean 46,697.2, SE 7905.4; social interaction group: mean 45,967.3, SE 8260.7). For the subsequent weeks, changes to individual baseline values (absolute/proportional) for the no social interaction group were as follows: 1583.3 (SE 3108.3)/4.6% (SE 7.2%) (week 2), 591.5 (SE 2414.5)/2.4% (SE 4.7%) (week 3), and −1041.8 (SE 1992.7)/0.6% (SE 4.4%) (week 4). For the social interaction group, changes to individual baseline values were as follows: 11520.0 (SE 3941.5)/28.0% (SE 8.7%) (week 2), 9567.3 (SE 2631.5)/23.0% (SE 5.1%) (week 3), and 7648.7 (SE 3900.9)/13.9% (SE 8.0%) (week 4). The result of the analysis of the group effect was significant (absolute change: η2=0.31, P=.04; proportional change: η2=0.30, P=.03). Correlations between both absolute and proportional change and the play activity were significant (absolute change: r=0.59, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.77; proportional change: r=0.39, 95% CI 0.08 to 0.64). Conclusions The presence of social interaction design elements in pervasive games appears to have a positive effect on levels of physical activity. Trial Registration Japan Medical Association Clinical Trial Registration Number JMA-IIA00314; https://tinyurl.com/y5nh6ylr (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/761a6MVAy)

scholarly journals Promoting Physical Activity in Japanese Older Adults Using a Social Pervasive Game: Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciano Henrique De Oliveira Santos ◽  
Kazuya Okamoto ◽  
Ryo Otsuki ◽  
Shusuke Hiragi ◽  
Goshiro Yamamoto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Pervasive Games ◽  
Design Elements ◽  
Play Activity ◽  
The Social ◽  
Proportional Change ◽  
Pervasive Game ◽  
Baseline Values

BACKGROUND Pervasive games aim to create more fun and engaging experiences by mixing elements from the real world into the game world. Because they intermingle with players’ lives and naturally promote more casual gameplay, they could be a powerful strategy to stimulate physical activity among older adults. However, to use these games more effectively, it is necessary to understand how design elements of the game affect player behavior. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate how the presence of a specific design element, namely social interaction, would affect levels of physical activity. METHODS Participants were recruited offline and randomly assigned to control and intervention groups in a single-blind design. Over 4 weeks, two variations of the same pervasive game were compared: with social interaction (intervention group) and with no social interaction (control group). In both versions, players had to walk to physical locations and collect virtual cards, but the social interaction version allowed people to collaborate to obtain more cards. Changes in the weekly step counts were used to evaluate the effect on each group, and the number of places visited was used as an indicator of play activity. RESULTS A total of 20 participants were recruited (no social interaction group, n=10; social interaction group, n=10); 18 participants remained active until the end of the study (no social interaction group, n=9; social interaction group, n=9). Step counts during the first week were used as the baseline level of physical activity (no social interaction group: mean 46,697.2, SE 7905.4; social interaction group: mean 45,967.3, SE 8260.7). For the subsequent weeks, changes to individual baseline values (absolute/proportional) for the no social interaction group were as follows: 1583.3 (SE 3108.3)/4.6% (SE 7.2%) (week 2), 591.5 (SE 2414.5)/2.4% (SE 4.7%) (week 3), and −1041.8 (SE 1992.7)/0.6% (SE 4.4%) (week 4). For the social interaction group, changes to individual baseline values were as follows: 11520.0 (SE 3941.5)/28.0% (SE 8.7%) (week 2), 9567.3 (SE 2631.5)/23.0% (SE 5.1%) (week 3), and 7648.7 (SE 3900.9)/13.9% (SE 8.0%) (week 4). The result of the analysis of the group effect was significant (absolute change: η<sup>2</sup>=0.31, <i>P</i>=.04; proportional change: η<sup>2</sup>=0.30, <i>P</i>=.03). Correlations between both absolute and proportional change and the play activity were significant (absolute change: <i>r</i>=0.59, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.77; proportional change: <i>r</i>=0.39, 95% CI 0.08 to 0.64). CONCLUSIONS The presence of social interaction design elements in pervasive games appears to have a positive effect on levels of physical activity. CLINICALTRIAL Japan Medical Association Clinical Trial Registration Number JMA-IIA00314; https://tinyurl.com/y5nh6ylr (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/761a6MVAy)

scholarly journals What entices older adults to parks? Identification of park features that encourage park visitation, physical activity, and social interaction

2022 ◽  
Vol 217 ◽  
pp. 104254
Author(s):  
Jenny Veitch ◽  
Kylie Ball ◽  
Elise Rivera ◽  
Venurs Loh ◽  
Benedicte Deforche ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Park Visitation

scholarly journals TOURIST DESTINATION AS AN OBJECT OF RESEARCH OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 2058-2067
Author(s):  
Nilufar Kh. Komilova Et al.
Keyword(s):  
Economic Geography ◽  
Basic Concept ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Geographical Region ◽  
Social Aspect ◽  
Tourist Destination ◽  
Regional Context ◽  
The Social ◽  
Tourist Demand

 This article describes the basic concept of "tourist destination" in the tourism system, its content and essence, the definition given by various scholars, that destination is a geographical region with a certain attractiveness for tourists. The definitions of the concept of "destination" proposed by the authors in scientific sources are based on the division into four groups according to their important aspects: territorial, economic, social, administrative. While the assessment of the concept of "tourist destination" in the regional context is based primarily on the criterion of "dependence" on the specific geographical location of the region, economically tourist destination is considered as a specific destination for tourists and is considered an economic category. one is that there is a tourist demand. While the social aspect is the interpretation of a tourist destination as a specific socio-geographical place, it is conceived that any system is governed by forces of a natural nature as a subject of management that characterizes the concept of a tourist destination. The article also touches on the concept of "tourism industry" and the work on the development of tourism in Uzbekistan today.

Features of Rural Communities in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa That Influence Well-Being of Older Persons

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 420-421
Author(s):  
Andrew Banda ◽  
Norah Keating ◽  
Jaco Hoffman ◽  
Jose Parodi ◽  
Nereide Curreri
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Older People ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Older Persons ◽  
Subjective Wellbeing ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract In their recent volume, Critical Rural Gerontology, Skinner et al (2021) challenge us to set aside unidimensional notions of rural communities as bypassed vs very supportive; and to identify the elements of rurality that empower or exclude older people and how these differ across cultures and settings. Covid-19 has highlighted the need for safe and inclusive communities. Given that LMIC will be home to the majority of older adults (Gonzales et al. 2015), we undertook a scoping review of features of rural communities that influence wellbeing of older people in countries across Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. The review included literature in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, using search engines MEDLINE, CINAHL Complete, PsycInfo, SocINDEX, SciELO, AJOL (Africa Journals Online), LILACS, Redalyc, LatinIndex and Clacso. Findings illustrate diversity in how community features including remoteness, infrastructure and belonging influence material, social and subjective wellbeing of older residents.

scholarly journals Facilitating Physical Activity through On-Site Quantified-Self Data Sharing

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 4904
Author(s):  
Nan Yang ◽  
Gerbrand van Hout ◽  
Loe Feijs ◽  
Wei Chen ◽  
Jun Hu
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Intrinsic Motivation ◽  
Data Sharing ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Simulation System ◽  
Social Aspect ◽  
Quantified Self ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Social

With the development of sensing technology and the popularization of quantified-self devices, there are increasing types of health-related data that can be sensed, visualized and presented to the user. However, most existing quantified-self applications are designed to support self-management and self-reflection; only a few studies so far have investigated the social aspect of quantified-self data. In this study, we investigated the social role of quantified-self data by introducing the design and evaluation of SocialBike—a digitally augmented bicycle that aims to increase the user’s intrinsic motivation in physical activity through on-site quantified-self data sharing. We conducted a controlled experiment on a cycling simulation system. Two forms of SocialBike’s on-bike display were evaluated with 36 participants. We used the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory to collect quantitative data about users’ intrinsic motivation in physical activity; the cycling simulation system recorded quantitative data about user behavior. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews. We conducted paired sample t-test to analyze both types of quantitative data; qualitative data were analyzed by the method of thematic analysis. The results show that SocialBike’s front display significantly increased users’ intrinsic motivation in physical activity. A total of nine themes were identified from the qualitative analysis, providing supplementary explanations for the quantitative results and additional insights into the overall design.

scholarly journals Pervasive game design to evaluate social interaction effects on levels of physical activity among older adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 205566831984444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciano HO Santos ◽  
Kazuya Okamoto ◽  
Shusuke Hiragi ◽  
Goshiro Yamamoto ◽  
Osamu Sugiyama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Elderly People ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Design Elements ◽  
Visual Style ◽  
Pervasive Game

Introduction Promoting active lifestyles among older adults can bring drastic benefits for their quality of life. The innovative mechanics of pervasive games – that mix real and virtual worlds – can further engage and motivate elderly people into that goal. Using social interaction as a study case, we designed and evaluated the feasibility of a pervasive game to investigate how game design elements can affect the levels of physical activity of older adults. Methods A mobile, location-based pervasive game was developed, and a study with community dwelling elderly volunteers from Kyoto, Japan was performed to evaluate its feasibility as an experiment system. Results Participants reported that the theme and visual style of the game was adequate, and that game rules and goals could be easily understood. The game was considered enjoyably challenging and engaging. Further analysis showed that next iterations of the system must pay special attention to the level of complexity of controls, and that new ways to connect players when there are few people playing or when they are too far apart are necessary. Conclusions The design allowed to test for variations on pervasive mechanics and was effective to engage elderly people, encouraging further investigation.

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