Instructors' Perceptions and Experiences of Teaching Online Exercise Classes to Older Adults: A Qualitative Study.

Abstract

Online exercise programming has become increasingly popular in recent years, including for older adults. Instructors hold unique perspectives on such programming that could yield important insights for effective program design and delivery. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine instructors' perceptions and experiences teaching exercise classes online to older adults. Using qualitative description, 19 instructors from a community exercise program for seniors completed a one-on-one semistructured interview. We analyzed data using reflexive thematic analysis and generated three main themes: (a)characteristics of effective online instructors, (b)challenges to delivering online exercise programming to older adults, and (c)future of online exercise programming. Most participants enjoyed delivering online exercise classes and developing the unique skills (particularly related to fostering social experiences and engaging with participants) required to be effective online exercise instructors. Our findings speak to the importance of ensuring instructors are adequately trained to deliver online exercise to seniors.