Strategic approaches to recruiting more inactive elderly people to sport and physical activities.

1. Strategic approaches to recruiting more inactive elderly people to sport and physical activities. Theoretical models Herbert Hartmann

2. The high rate of physical inactivity among elderly people needs more and better interventions! • 38% of Europeans ageing 55+ are rare or never involved in physical activities (non-sportive). • 75% of Europeans ageing 55+ are rare or never involved in more vigorous, sportive activities!

3. Multiple reasons for the high rate ofphysical inactivity of elderlies: • Individual, behavioural impediments • Interpersonal, social impediments • External environmental barriers • Societal and political impediments

4. Individual, behavioural impediments • Lack of knowledge and conviction that physical activity and sport is essential for successful ageing. • Lack of self-efficacy. • Attitude to be not powerful and skilled enough. • A tradional view, what sport is about (competetive sport). • Fear to counteract the present health status. • Fear to meet unknown people • Bad experiences in former activity groups or with inadaquate and no-sensitive instructors. • …......

5. Interpersonal, social impediments: • No encouragement from the spouse, family, friends, doctors, …. • Lack of knowledge about providers of physical activity for elderly people. • Educational,cultural and religious background. • Social-economic status.

6. External, environmental barriers • Bad or inconvenient access to facilities. • Inadequate safety conditions for elderly people • Insufficient public transport. • Missing fitting activity programs.

7. Societal and political impediments: • Still a tradional, outdated view of ageing. • Less promotion from mass-media. • Missing initiatives and support from policy (local, regional and national level). • ….

8. How to change the behaviour of elderly people to a more active lifestyle? • Going to change the behaviour of people is challenging, long lasting and multi-facetted task. • As there are multiple influences on the behaviour of individuals. Interventions to change behaviour need a holistic, comprehensive approach, taking as much factors into considaration as possible. • Theoretical models can help us to identify factors related to physical activity participation in specific population groups. • They can as well explain the interrelationship between the different components of influence factors.

9. Two models to explain behaviour change in physical activities: • The „Stages of Change“ model (adapted Trans-Theoretical Model). • The „Socio-ecological“ model. Both models are based on the assumption, that improvement of physical activity is influnced by multiple determinants.

10. What stands the models for? • Providing a framework to design physical activity promotion intervention strategies. • Assessing critically physical activity promotion interventions coherence. (Examples will be presented and analysed tomorrow)

11. Possible intervention elements promoting the process of behaviour change “Maintaining” Being physically active regularly for more than one year “Fluctuating” Being physically active not regularly “Exploring” Being physically active regularly, but not longer than twelve months "Preparing” Have intention and concrete plans to start with physical activity Inactivity Activity In settings “Considering” Thinking about being physically active “Not Considering” Not being physically active and not thinking about it )

12. Possible intervention elements promoting the process of behaviour change Information, Advice & Counselling Mass media campaigns “Maintaining” Being physically active regularly for more than one year Point-of-Decision counselling Internet advice - individual tailored “Fluctuating” Being physically active not regularly “Exploring” Being physically active regularly, but not longer than twelve months Physician based counselling "Preparing” Have intention and concrete plans to start with physical activity Inactivity Activity In settings “Considering” Thinking about being physically active in sport-clubs “Not Considering” Not being physically active and not thinking about it In fitness centres Activity programs & infrastructure )

13. Socio-ecological model Public Policy component Physical environment component Inter-personal component Intra-personal componet

14. Socio-ecological model • Urban planning • Transport policies • National active ageing plans • Mass media campaigns AA • Health policies • Environmental policies • Funding policies • Availability, access, feaibility of facilities • Fitting activity programs • Community design • Safety • Natural factors (weather, geography) • Public transport Public Policy component Physical environment component Inter-personal component Intra-personal componet • Family, spouse, peers • Social cohesion of the group • Adequacy of the instructor • Organisations (sport clubs, senior communities, senior homes, …. • Health professionals (doctors, coaches, teachers, ...) • Knowledge, attitudes, behaviour, motivation, self-efficiacy • Skills, abilities, • Genetic (sex; age) • Socio-economic status

15. Recommendations for a comprehensive intervention strategy to make more people more active: • Improve knowledge about and motivation for the benefits of physical activity and sport for elderlies. • Address individual elderlies in their interpersonal relationsships (family, spouse, friends, local associations, doctors, pharmacies, …). • Provide varied activity programs fitting to diverse sub-target-groups of elderly people, taking into account individual preconditions (skills, abilities/disabilities, gender, motivations,...). Take as many local and regional institutions and (self-help) groups as providers into account. • Take care for the adequacy of supervisors/instructors with special competences to meet the needs of elderly people. Provide education for volunteers.

16. Take care for a broad availability, easy access and feasibility of facilities through networking between local organisations, community administration and public policy (urban planning, safety precautions, public transport). • Create stable cross-sector networks for appropriate stakeholders taking care for elderly people. • Promote and marketing your interventions to activate elderly people (press report, social media, mass-media, …) • Become engaged in public policy discussions with relation to elderly issues (health, urban planning, active ageing plany, …). • Look for incentives for active elderly people (discounts, senior cards, ….) • Look for public and corporate funding possibilities.

17. Physical intervention strategies for elderly people are more likely successful when they target multiple factors!Comprehensive interventions are too ambitious for one stakeholder only. They need cross-sectoral cooperation!Can the examples fulfil this requirement?