Psychosocial determinants of exercise in people 65 and older: Recruitment and population campaign strategies
Abstract
Objectives. The purpose of this study was: (a) to examine exercise-related psychosocial determinants of behavior in people 65 and older according to the Model of Personal Investment (MPI), and (b) to identify themes and related strategies to be used in exercise public health campaigns or for recruitment to and retention in exercise programs. Method. Subjects included 86 older adult (M age = 77; SD = 6.6) volunteers. A principally qualitative and complementary quantitative cross-sectional design was used. Cross-case content analysis was used to identify “themes” within MPI constructs. Results. Notable perceived options for exercise in this sample were walking, calisthenics, and house/yard work. Prevalent personal incentives for exercising were feeling better/energetic, cardiovascular benefits, muscular fitness, independence/mobility, stress management, and social interaction. Perceived barriers to exercise included medical problems, lack of motivation/laziness, bad weather, fear of falling, and soreness. Demographically, there were statistically significant differences between gender and among age groups [young-old (YO) = 65–74 years, middle-old (MO) = 75–84 years, & old-old (OO) = 85–99 years]. There were significantly more females than males citing unmotivated/lazy (p = .05) and fear of falling ( p = .0008) as perceived barriers to exercise. Also, significantly more females cited calisthenics (p = .01) as a perceived option. The YO versus MO and OO cited social interaction as a personal incentive for exercise (p = .01, .05; respectively). The MO versus YO significantly cited house/yard work as a perceived option for exercise (p = .001). The 00 versus MO significantly cited bad weather (p = .01) and fear of falling (p = .006) as perceived barriers to exercise. The OO, in comparison to the MO, significantly cited walking (p = .02) as a perceived option for exercise and independence/mobility (p = .03) as a personal incentive. Conclusions. Key constructs were perceived barriers, personal incentives, and perceived options. Other constructs provided insight but revealed less information and were eliminated for parsimony. Audience segmentation revealed that themes varied according to constructs and different themes should be emphasized for public health campaigns depending on the target group or when recruiting participants to existing exercise programs.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Black, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Health education|Gerontology|Behavioral psychology
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