Abstract
BackgroundActive ageing reflects the message from World Health Organisation about addressing the challenge faced by the rapidly ageing population. Knowledge about barriers and facilitators to an active lifestyle must be given more attention. In addition, men seem to participate less in cultural activities and less in fall-prevention groups than women do. When mostly women work with the elderly in primary care, one might question whether the activities offered to older men meet their activity preferences. The aim of this study is to provide new knowledge about challenges and motivators encountered by retired men in maintaining physical activity when ageing.MethodsNine retired men, aged between 66 and 83, wrote a Time Geographic Diary for 7 days each. Two focus group discussions with the men were held. A Systemic Text Condensation was used to analyse the data.ResultsThe analyses identified three categories to describe challenges in being physical active: differences between men and women; meaningful physical activity; and environmental - especially socio-cultural - constraints. Motivating conditions were seen as: new activities to get younger friends, and more information about how to cope.ConclusionsTo achieve the aim of active ageing, service providers as well as local authorities need to have a better understanding of the challenges retired men encounter when ageing. This study highlights vital aspects of the challenges faced by retired men in maintaining their physical activity level.
Highlights
Active ageing reflects the message from World Health Organisation about addressing the challenge faced by the rapidly ageing population
Both policy and research during the past few decades have focused on exercise, and there are recommendations for the number of minutes one should exercise per week [1]
Active ageing reflects the message from World Health Organisation [7] about addressing the challenge faced by the rapidly ageing population
Summary
Active ageing reflects the message from World Health Organisation about addressing the challenge faced by the rapidly ageing population. Knowledge about barriers and facilitators to an active lifestyle must be given more attention. There is a growing concern about inactivity having a negative impact on health in the population. Both policy and research during the past few decades have focused on exercise, and there are recommendations for the number of minutes one should exercise per week [1]. Understanding the barriers to physical activity and how to facilitate a more active everyday lifestyle for the population, must be given more attention [6]. Because walking outdoors is recommended for seniors, there is a need to explore how barriers, motivators and environmental factors can facilitate walking and spending time outdoors for the elderly [11, 15]. Better information is needed to be able to Bredland et al BMC Public Health (2018) 18:627 take responsibility for one’s own health, and this implies of one’s physical activity
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