A Qualitative Exploration of Perceptions of a Digital Intervention to Promote Physical Activity in Older Adults.

Sebastien Pollet,Elisabeth Grey,Katherine Bradbury,Kirsten A Smith,Fiona Mowbray,Joanna Slodkowska-Barabasz,Paul Little,Lucy Yardley,Rosie Essery,Nanette Mutrie,James Denison-Day,Max Western

doi:10.1123/japa.2019-0484

Abstract

This study explored participant views of a web-based physical activity intervention for older adults and examined how they resonate with the key principles that guided intervention development. Qualitative interviews were carried out with 52 older adults. A deductive qualitative analysis approach was taken, based around the intervention's key principles. Participants expressed mostly positive views of the intervention features, broadly confirming the appropriateness of the key principles, which were to: (a)encourage intrinsic motivation for physical activity, (b)minimize the risk of users receiving activity suggestions that are inappropriate or unsafe, (c)offer users choice regarding the activities they engage with and build confidence to undertake more activity, and (d)minimize the cognitive load and need to engage with the intervention website. The findings also identified ways in which content could be improved to further increase acceptability. This study illustrates how using the person-based approach has enabled the identification and implementation of features that older adults appreciate.

Highlights

This study explored participant views of a web-based physical activity intervention for older adults and examined how they resonate with the key principles that guided intervention development
In the United Kingdom, older adults are the fastest growing group of Internet users: Internet usage in those aged 65–74 years rose from 52% in 2011 to 83% in 2019; in those aged 75+ years, usage rose from 20% in 2011 to 47% in 2019 (Office for National Statistics, 2019)
The findings are organized in four sections, discussing the extent to which participants’ perceptions reflected each of the four guiding principles’ key design objectives and associated intervention features

Summary

Introduction

This study explored participant views of a web-based physical activity intervention for older adults and examined how they resonate with the key principles that guided intervention development. Many physical activity interventions require users to follow a formal exercise regimen, often setting aside time to go to a gym or use specialist equipment (Lachman et al, 2018), or expect daily engagement with the intervention. Such interventions are often difficult to implement on a sufficient scale to influence changes in physical activity at national levels (Koorts et al, 2018). A potential way to overcome the problem of scaling is to utilize digital behavior change interventions These are remotely delivered using technologies, such as websites and mobile applications (Stockwell et al, 2019).

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion