Abstract
ABSTRACT Objectives Examine health resources that physically active older adults consider meaningful when participating in physical activity initiatives. Health resources are protective factors, including attitudes, knowledge, material factors or social support, that potentially enable people to understand and make sense of their lives or to cope with life stressors. Design and main outcome measures A cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted with two questionnaires used to serve as a compiled ‘ageing well’ survey: the Salutogenic Physical Activity Health Resources Questionnaire (SPAHRQ) and the short form of the Sense of Coherence questionnaire, SOC-13. Results The study included 372 participants ranging from 60 to 96 years of age (mean age: 74.4 ± 7 years; 60% women). Social relations, positive energy, the habit of exercising and embodied satisfaction were considered important by more than 70% of the participants. Social relations were the most meaningful health resource for both men and women (89%). Women rated positive energy as a significantly more important consequence of their participation in physical activity than men (W 88%, M 72%; p = .001). The three health resources that were considered less important were capability in and about physical activity, self-worth and identity as an exercising person. Those who were more physically active considered social relations, self-worth and the habit of exercising to a higher extent. Participants with higher sense of coherence consider the habit of exercising to a greater extent to be important. Conclusions Findings that social relations, positive energy, the habit of exercising and embodied satisfaction were considered important by more than 70% of the participants, can contribute to a wider understanding of health resources that older adults consider meaningful in their participation in organised physical activity initiatives.
Highlights
The number of people aged 60 years and above has doubled since 1980 (WHO, 2015)
Findings that social relations, positive energy, the habit of exercising and embodied satisfaction were considered important by more than 70% of the participants, can contribute to a wider understanding of health resources that older adults consider meaningful in their participation in organised physical activity initiatives
The study will first investigate to what extent certain health resources are considered meaningful, secondly investigate whether there are any differences in demographic background factors and time spent in physical activity that are related to particular health resources, and thirdly explore whether health resources and participants’ sense of coherence (SOC) are related
Summary
The number of people aged 60 years and above has doubled since 1980 (WHO, 2015). With the general increase in life expectancy, there is a growing focus on issues of health and illness associated with higher age (Barnett et al, 2012; Beyer, Wolff, Warner, Schüz, & Wurm, 2015). Research reveals that physical activity provides substantial health benefits, both medical and psychological, for older adults (Koster, Stenholm, & Schrack, 2018; Rai, Jongenelis, Jackson, Newton, & Pettigrew, 2019). It has further been emphasised in countless studies that participating in regular physical activity can delay age-associated morbidity and disability, improving quality of life and extending years of independent living (Bauman, Merom, Bull, Buchner, & Fiatarone Singh, 2016; Rhodes, Janssen, Bredin, Warburton, & Bauman, 2017; Taylor, 2014). The salutogenic approach can contribute to, and give a new perspective on, older adults’ participation in physical activity
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