Abstract
Regular physical activity has multiple health benefits for both the prevention and management of disease, including for older adults. However, additional precautions are needed with ageing given physiological changes and the increasing prevalence of comorbidities. Hot ambient temperatures increase the risks of exercise at any age, but are particularly important given thermoregulatory changes in older people. This narrative review informs planning of physical activity programs for older people living in rural areas with very hot climates for a period of the year. A multi-database search of peer-reviewed literature was undertaken with attention to its relevance to Australia, starting with definitions and standard advice in relation to physical activity programming and the incremental limitations imposed by age, rurality, and extreme heat. The enablers of and barriers to increasing physical activities in older adults and how they can be modified for those living in extreme hot climates is described. We describe multiple considerations in program design to improve safety, adherence and sustaining physical activity, including supervision, simple instructions, provision of reminders, social support, encouraging self-efficacy. Group-based activities may be preferred by some and can accommodate special populations, cultural considerations. Risk management is an important consideration and recommendations are provided to assist program planning.
Highlights
The health benefits of physical activity are increasingly recognised and extolled to the population for preventing or delaying the onset of disease [1]
The importance of hot climates is that heat production arises from muscular activity and is a function of aerobic activity and the exercise intensity, which must be balanced by the transfer of heat from the body to the environment, which involves a number of mechanisms, including evaporative capacity, which are constrained by high ambient temperatures [15]
After an initial search for relevant information on older people, exercise/physical activity and hot climates, we identified salient issues to be explored and that there was a lack of relevant reviews on this issue
Summary
The health benefits of physical activity are increasingly recognised and extolled to the population for preventing or delaying the onset of disease [1]. There are many places in Australia (especially Northern Australia) where the daytime temperature is regularly above 35 ◦ C for many months a year This inevitably means that programs need to be designed with the potential vulnerabilities of older adults in mind and recognising that the environment constrains some of the more standard approaches to exercising at an older age. The importance of hot climates is that heat production arises from muscular activity and is a function of aerobic activity and the exercise intensity, which must be balanced by the transfer of heat from the body to the environment, which involves a number of mechanisms, including evaporative capacity, which are constrained by high ambient temperatures [15] This narrative review was undertaken to inform planning for a physical activity program to be delivered in a regional city in a northern region of Australia. This information can inform best practice approaches for the planning and delivery of physical activity to older people in similar circumstances, and appropriate strategies for those tasked with delivering health promotion and physical activity programs, given that most training is based in metropolitan population centres in more temperate climates
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