Older Women’s Experiences of a Community-Led Walking Programme Using Activity Trackers

Jessica O’Brien, Amy Mason, Marica Cassarino, Jason Chan and Annalisa Setti
Additional contact information
Jessica O’Brien: School of Applied Psychology, University College Cork, T23 XA50 Cork, Ireland
Amy Mason: Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Limerick, V94 TPX Limerick, Ireland
Marica Cassarino: School of Applied Psychology, University College Cork, T23 XA50 Cork, Ireland
Jason Chan: School of Applied Psychology, University College Cork, T23 XA50 Cork, Ireland
Annalisa Setti: School of Applied Psychology, University College Cork, T23 XA50 Cork, Ireland

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 18, 1-14

Abstract: Promoting physical activity amongst older adults represents a major public health goal and community-led exercise programmes present benefits in promoting active lifestyles. Commercial activity trackers potentially encourage positive behaviour change with respect to physical exercise. This qualitative study investigated the experiences and attitudes of older adults following a 6-week community-led walking programme utilising activity trackers. Eleven community-dwelling older women aged 60+ completed individual phone interviews following their involvement in the programme. The programme, codesigned with a group of senior citizens, equipped participants with wrist-worn activity trackers and included biweekly check-in sessions with a researcher to monitor progress and support motivation. Interviews explored participants’ experiences of the programme and of using activity trackers for the purpose of becoming more active. A thematic analysis produced three main themes: ‘programme as a source of motivation’, ‘user experiences with the technology’ and ‘views on social dimension of the programme’. Overall, participants highlighted the self-monitoring function of activity trackers as most beneficial for their exercise levels. This study provides insights into the personal and social factors perceived by older adults in relation to being part of a community-led programme using activity trackers. It highlights the role of the programme and trackers in maintaining motivation to stay active.

Keywords: physical activity; technology; user perspectives; older adults (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9818/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9818/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9818-:d:638003

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().