Forms of physical activity of the elderly

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-228
Author(s):  
Piotr Czarnecki ◽  
◽  
Justyna Podgórska-Bednarz ◽  
Lidia Perenc ◽  
◽  
...  

Introduction. Physical activity is known to be an important factor influencing health throughout human life. This issue has become crucial for public health due to the aging of the population in both developed and developing countries. Aim. is to present a literature review on the forms of physical activity undertaken by the elderly, as well as on issues related to physical activity and the population aging. Material and methods. The study was prepared on the basis of a review of Polish and foreign literature. The following databases and data sources were used: EBSCO, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar. An additional source of data were the websites of the Central Statistical Office. Strictly defined key phrases were used during the collection of literature. The work has been divided into thematic subsections on the aging of the society, the impact of physical activity on health and the main topic, i.e. forms of physical activity selected by the elderly. Analysis of the literature. The number of elderly people in Polish society has increased by almost 3.7 million over three decades. Therefore, an important topic is prophylaxis aimed at increasing the number of days in good health, largely covering the broadly understood activation of the elderly. The available data indicate that only 12% of elderly people undertake physical activity once a week. The most common form of spending free time actively is walking (as many as 73% of people in this population declare this form of physical activity in one of the presented studies). Conclusion. Organized forms of physical activity are undertaken much less frequently by the analyzed age group mainly due to financial limitations and limited availability of sports infrastructure.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 4965
Author(s):  
Francisco Javier Flor-Montalvo ◽  
Jorge Luis García-Alcaraz ◽  
Agustín Sánchez-Toledo Ledesma ◽  
Leandro Álvarez-Kurogi

Progressive population aging and life expectancy increase in Spain, resulting from medical and social improvements, have put this population segment in a privileged position for the implementation of new methodologies aimed at improving the quality of life of the elderly. Social life cycle analysis (S-LCA) is a widely studied technique to evaluate the social and environmental impacts generated by a product, service, or process. Throughout this paper, S-LCA is applied to the implementation of physical activity programs in routines for older people, allowing a complete evaluation of the impact of such activities. From this study, it is deduced that the execution phase of the program is the one that causes the most positive impact. Design and programming have a much more notable impact than expected. With regard to the involved categories, the user is the greatest beneficiary of the implementation of these programs, although the local community and administration are other interest groups that will highly benefit, although the impact will be much less than in the case of users.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (S1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kinga Lampek ◽  
László Csóka ◽  
Réka Hegedüs ◽  
Miklós Zrínyi ◽  
Mária Törőcsik

Abstract Background The proportion of elderly is on the rise both in Europe and in Hungary. The challenge is to increase the number of years spent in good health as well as to improve quality of life of those 60 years and above. This study focuses on the impact of physical activity on this age group. Methods A nationally representative sample of 2000 respondents were surveyed in an age range of 15–74. Our data concerns those being 60–74 years of age. The focus of our investigation was level and impact of physical activity in the group above. First, we used Chi-squared tests and correspondence analysis to identify the deviation in the answers of different groups in our sample. After we built a hierarchical linear regression model to get a deeper understanding of the impact of physical activity for elderly. Results Those reporting no physical/sports activity at all have to do with the negative culture of exercising. Only 9.3% reported being engaged with any sports; 72% reported no regular exercising throughout their lives. The relationship between sport activity and self-reported health was significant (p = 0.009, Cramer’s V = 0.2). Elderly were characterized by walking, hiking and less intense sports. Conclusions Those who actively exercised in this research reported better health outcomes than those who stopped or had never been engaged in any sports. We conclude that of all variables tested, physical activity was most effective to improve personal health of the elderly in this sample. Compared to European data on physical activity of elderly populations, Hungary seems to fall behind and needs to consider concentrated efforts to improve the future health of its senior populace.


Author(s):  
Andrii Karkach

The relevance of the study is stipulated by the fact that modern digital technologies are radically changing the economy and lifestyle in general. The information society determines the transformation of social structure, revision of patterns of social activities and stereotypes of behaviour, strategies and tactics of adaptation. Today's information technology and software encourages our society to accelerate in order to learn more and keep up with the scientific and technological progress. Under such conditions, the people of the "third" age appear to be the most vulnerable ones. Without social services and educational services, they are not able to independently master the array of innovative knowledge, including e-technology. Nowadays, a good command of the basics of the personal computer, E-technologies is becoming a necessary condition for orientation in the information flow and successful resocialisation and adaptation of the elderly people in the modern society, for overcoming digital inequality, immersion into the global information flows. The purpose of the study is to determine the features of the mechanisms enabling digital resocialisation of the elderly people within the educational environment of the University of the Third Age. The method of questionnaire survey was used to collect data, as this form of survey has an advantage – it allows respondents to carefully consider their answers without limiting their time. The article characterises and identifies the features of the impact of digital resocialisation mechanisms on the elderly within the educational environment of the University of the Third Age functioning on the platform of the territorial centre of social services (the one which provides social services). Different approaches to the mechanisms of digitalisation are presented, the importance of the University of the Third Age as an institution of digital resocialisation of elderly students is substantiated. The adaptability of the educational environment of the University of the Third Age as a resocialisation space, motivational components of the elderly have been determined, which allows the latter to realise the essential properties of the human personality at a respectable age. A social role of the digital resocialisation is transmitted through its contribution to the improvement of the quality of human life. The use of e-technologies can be considered one of the topical problems of social work with the elderly. There is still no consensus on the extent or impact of digital stratification on the process of resocialisation at an old age, which may be considered the prospect of our further research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-116
Author(s):  
Hasan Hekmatnia ◽  
Kamran Jafarpour Ghalehteimouri ◽  
Ali Shamsoddini

Population aging and its consequences are an extremely controversial issue in the global context. An increase in the number of older people along with a decrease in the birth rate leads to an excessive burden on the economically active part of the population. Such imbalances threaten to reduce the workforce, slow economic growth, increase social spending, increase the fiscal burden. Therefore, using the country’s own experience to solve the problem of rapid aging of the nation and take measures to improve the quality of life of older people and their social integration into society is insufficient, as changes in the age structure of the population may occur for the first time. Therefore, it is necessary to study and adapt the experience of other countries to address this social issue. The purpose of this study was to conduct a comparative analysis of the aging population in Iran and Poland, as well as to assess the impact of the nation’s aging on life expectancy, fertility and gross domestic product (GDP) in these two countries. The object of the study is Poland as a representative of European countries, which is facing an increase in the number of elderly people, and Iran as a country where the age structure of the population is just beginning to change. The study period is 1950-2020. The results of the study show that there has been an increase in the elderly population, but the share of this population compared to other countries is lower. The authors of the study proved the existence of significant differences in the aging population in Poland and Iran. A feature of the demographic situation in Iran is the declining birth rate, which leads to a decrease in the total population and an increase in the proportion of elderly people. These socio-demographic transformations in the long run can have a destructive effect on Iran’s GDP. In contrast to Iran, Poland is experiencing an increase in population aging, leading to rising spending on social security and protection, as well as falling GDP. The rapid growth of the elderly population compared to the growth of the total population of the country and the increase in the share of elderly people in the coming years emphasizes the need for further planning of control over the problems associated with this population group.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
C Dupré ◽  
N Barth ◽  
A El Moutawakkil ◽  
F Béland ◽  
F Roche ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Few previous cohorts have studied the different type of physical activities and the degree of cognitive decline. The objective of this work was to analyze the leisure, domestic and professional activities with mild and moderate cognitive disorders in older people living in community. Methods The study used data from the longitudinal and observational study, FrèLE (FRagility: Longitudinal Study of Expressions). The collected data included: socio-demographic variables, lifestyle, and health status (frailty, comorbidities, cognitive status, depression). Cognitive decline was assessed by using: MMSE (Mini-Mental State Examination) and MoCA (Montreal Cognitive Assessment). MoCA was used with two cut-offs (26 and 17) so as to define mild and moderate cognitive disorders Physical activity was assessed by the PASE (Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly), structured in three sections: leisure, domestic and professional activities. Spline and proportional hazards regression models (Cox) were used to estimate the risk of cognitive disorders. Results At baseline, 1623 participants were included and the prevalence of cognitive disorders was 6.9% (MMSE) and 7.2% (MoCA), mild cognitive disorders was 71.3%. The mean age was 77 years, and 52% of the participants were women. After a 2 years long follow-up, we found 6.9% (MMSE) and 6% (MoCA) cognitive disorders on participants. Analyses showed that domestic activities were associated to cognitive decline (HR = 0.52 [0.28-0.94] for MMSE and HR = 0.48 [0.28-0.80] for MoCA). No association were found with leisure and professional activities, and no spline were significant with mild cognitive disorders. Conclusions Analysis showed a relationship between cognitive disorders and type of physical activity, thanks to the use of specific questionnaire of elderly and two global test of cognition. These findings will contribute to the debate on the beneficial effects of physical activity on cognition. Key messages This work allowed to compare two test of cognition and their link with physical activity. It contributes to the debate on the beneficial effects of physical activity on cognition. The work allowed us to see the effect of the different types of physical activity and the impact of the statistical method on the results.


Author(s):  
Angelika Cisek-Woźniak ◽  
Kinga Mruczyk ◽  
Rafał W. Wójciak

Physical activity has an unquestionable impact on broadly understood human health. One interesting issue related to this is the importance of movement on mental health and cognitive functioning. Research shows that regular physical activity improves the cognitive functioning of adults and people with mental disorders. Regular physical activity can be an important and powerful protective factor in cognitive impairment and dementia in the elderly, and exercise is an important non-pharmacological treatment for mild cognitive impairment or neurodegenerative diseases. This study aims to present the impact of physical activity on selected cognitive functions in physically active women over 60 years of age. The research was carried out in a group of 110 generally healthy women from the area of western Poland over 60 years of age, who were divided into four groups based on the intensity of their physical activity. A pedometer (sport watch) and a physical activity diary were used to measure physical activity. Body Mass Index was assessed. Selected cognitive functions were assessed using the MMSE test, motor and psychomotor skills were measured, and Luria’s auditory memory test and recall test, a clock drawing test, and a GDS test were performed. There were statistically significant relationships between the level of physical activity and the effectiveness of cognitive processes. These results show that about 5000 steps a day is enough to see a positive effect on the mental health and cognitive functioning of this group of the elderly population. The women had an average BMI of 28.1 ± 4.7. BMI, indicating an overweight condition (over 30 kg/m2), was observed in 31% of women. The results of this study lead the authors to conclude that physical activity positively influences cognitive function and can be recommended for all seniors who do not have other serious comorbidities that would prevent them from playing sports.


2018 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irena Canjuga ◽  
Danica Železnik ◽  
Marijana Neuberg ◽  
Marija Božicevic ◽  
Tina Cikac

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of self-care on the prevalence of loneliness among elderly people living in retirement homes and older people living in their homes/communities. Design/methodology/approach The research was conducted through standardized SELSA-L assessment loneliness questionnaires and the Self Care Assessment Worksheet for self-care assessment. The results were processed using the Kruskal–Wallis test. Findings The obtained results have shown that impaired self-care ability affects the prevalence of loneliness among the elderly almost the same in both groups of participants. However, regarding the relationship between the state of health and self-care, only a statistically significant difference in the prevalence of loneliness is found in the case of the participants living in their homes, with the worst health condition affecting the poorer psychological care. Research limitations/implications It is necessary to point out the limitations of the research, primarily sample limitations and the selected design of the study. The sample consisted of two different and relatively small groups of participants which could adversely affect the representativeness of the sample and reduce the possibility of generalising the results. The next limiting factor is the age distribution the authors used in the research, where the age of the participants as a very important variable was collected by age range and not precisely which consequently resulted in inequality in subgroup sizes. Thus, the middle age (75–85) covers up to ten years, which is a huge range at an older age and can mean major differences in functional ability, and can impact the self-care assessment. Practical implications Nurses are indispensable in care for the elderly and they need to promote and encourage self-care of the elderly through health care. Elderly people living in retirement homes should be allowed to participate equally in health care in order to preserve their own autonomy and dignity. However, to benefit those who live in their homes, nurses should be connected to the local community and thus stimulate various forms of preventative (testing blood sugar levels, blood pressure and educating on the importance of preventive examinations) or recreational activities in the environment of elderly people with the goal of preserving their functional abilities. Originality/value The impact of self-care on loneliness was not sufficiently researched, and this paper contributed to understanding the complexity of loneliness phenomena among the elderly with the aim of developing a model of prevention.


Author(s):  
Anna Kuchciak

MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF SENIORS - THE ROLE OF " THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE" IN THE MATTERS OF LOCAL COMMUNITIESUnder the Act dated 11 October 2013 amending the Act on Municipal Self- Government, the ability to create municipal councils of seniors was introduced. The considered amendment is one of the wide range of legislative changes resulting from the process of population aging. The article attempts to assess how this optional collective body, aimed primarily at the civic activation of the elderly people and identification of their needs, works in the structure of the basic unit of the territorial system.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 35-41
Author(s):  
Hoang Thi Hai Van ◽  
Dao Anh Son ◽  
Pham Quang Thai

The study was conducted on 1,210 elderly people (aged 60 and older) with the purpose of understanding physical activity and cognitive impairment among elderly people in some districts of Ha Nam province in 2018. The results showed that the percentage of elderly people with symptoms of cognitive impairment was high, accounting for 46.36%. There was a significant difference between the rate of cognitive impairment of the group who exercised frequently (41.92%) and that of the group who did not exercise (51.62%) (p<0.05). Compared to the Non-exercise group, the risks of cognitive impairment of group exercise 15 - 45 minutes/week (OR = 0.69; 95% CI: 0.51 - 0.93); group exercise 45 - 90 minute/week group (OR = 0.61; 95% CI: 0.44 - 0.84) and group exercise Over 90 minutes/week (OR = 0.43; 95% CI: 0.27 - 0.67) were all significantly lower. The more time the research subjects exercise, the lower their risk of developing cognitive impairment became. Our finding suggests that physical activities may delay or prevent the onset of cognitive impairment in elderly people. It is necessary to expand research, continue to apply the cognitive screening test based on international standards, while guiding and encouraging elderly people to carry out physical activities according to their capabilities and international recommendations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 216-219
Author(s):  
Alisson Padilha de Lima ◽  
Ezequiel Vitório Lini ◽  
Marilene Rodrigues Portella ◽  
Marlene Doring ◽  
Fabrício Bruno Cardoso

ABSTRACT Introduction The increase in chronic diseases and physical inactivity are major public health problems among elderly populations worldwide. Objective This article aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with the practice of physical activity (PA) among elderly people living in urban environment. Methods A cross-population-based study was conducted in 2014, with 196 elderly people aged ≥ 60 years of age living in urban environment in the city of Passo Fundo, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. Gross and multivariable analyses were conducted using Poisson regression, estimating the ratios of gross and adjusted prevalence and calculating their respective 95% confidence intervals. Results The mean age was 71.3 (± 8.4). The gross prevalence for the practice of PA was 56.1%. After adjusted analysis, only the variable independent in activities of daily living (ADLs) remained significant (95% CI 1.05 to 4.83) (p = 0.037). Conclusions This research showed an association between the practice of PA and independence in ADLs. Level of Evidence II, Economic and decision analysis - Development of economic model or decision.


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