Embodied navigation: the influence of lived experience on physical activity and sedentary behavior among older adults.

PURPOSE: The impact of a sedentary lifestyle on health and well-being is well recognized. However, there is limited understanding of how a lifetime of physical activity and sedentary behaviour influences an active lifestyle in older adults. The aim of this study was to describe how lived experience of physical activity and sedentary behaviour impacts daily activities among older adults, from a life course perspective. METHODS: Qualitative content analysis was used; individual telephone interviews were conducted with fourteen older adults aged 71 to 92 years. The participants received initial support from community care and lived in ordinary housing in southern Sweden. RESULTS: The interviews yielded one theme, "Navigating with an embodied activity compass," and two sub-themes: "Being guided by the past" and "Unveiling pathways through body awareness." CONCLUSIONS: Our study highlights how older adults' lived experiences of physical activity, with their connections to body awareness and acceptance, impact daily physical activity. These findings offer new knowledge for clinical practitioners balancing recommendations of sedentary behaviour and physical activity, to promote healthy daily physical activity among older adults. Future research and policies should consider the lived experiences of older adults when addressing public health matters related to sedentary behaviour and physical activity.

Daily activity patterns in older adults receiving initial support: the association between daily steps and sitting in bouts of at least 60 min.

BACKGROUND: Aging has a significant impact on health, underlining the importance of maintaining physical function and reducing time spent sitting among older adults. To understand how to reduce prolonged sitting or increase physical activity, factors related to the daily living and observed daily activity patterns should be explored. This study aimed to investigate the association between daily steps, self-rated health, physical activity, sedentary behavior, motivation to exercise and fear of falling among older adults receiving initial support. METHOD: Cross-sectional design with total population questionnaire data from adults aged ≥ 60 years (n = 917), living at home with initial support from municipal care in southern Sweden. The older adults were offered to participate in a follow-up study measuring daily activity patterns with accelerometers (n = 72). Linear regression was used to analyze associations between daily steps and possible predictors. RESULTS: The linear model ([Formula: see text]0.478) showed that sitting in unbroken bouts of > 60 min (ß = -0.313, p < 0.05), walking independently outdoors (ß = 0.301, p < 0.05), intending to increase physical activity (ß = -0.294, p < 0.05), sex (ß = 0.279, p < 0.05), relative autonomy index (ß = 0.258, p < 0.05), fear of falling (ß = -0.238, p < 0.05), and self-rated health (ß = 0.213, p < 0.05) predicted daily steps. CONCLUSION: The model of predictors brings new understanding regarding daily steps among community-dwelling older adults. The association between sitting in bouts of > 60 min and daily steps is interesting as 35% of participants had a number of sitting bouts that on average, showed 30% less steps taken. Minimizing long sitting bouts and maintaining physical functioning to promote independence when walking outdoors can be tools for clinical practitioners devising interventions to break prolonged sitting among community-dwelling older adults. Future research should prioritize studying older adults' outdoor walking independence, including its relation to walking with or without assistive devices and its impact on physical activity and sedentary behavior.

The meaning of sedentary behavior among older adults: a phenomenological hermeneutic study.

BACKGROUND: A sedentary lifestyle has implications for health and well-being. For healthy ageing, it is recommended to interrupt prolonged sitting; however, little is known about the meaning of sedentary behavior among older adults. The aim of this study was to understand the meaning of sedentary behavior among older adults with initial support from community care. METHODS: A phenomenological hermeneutics approach was used, and individual interviews were conducted with sixteen older adults aged 70 to 97 years, by phone and face to face. The older adults lived in ordinary housing in southern Sweden and received initial support from community care. RESULTS: The interviews yielded three key themes: Being sedentary is an unnatural part of life, having an ageing body means unwanted frailty, and having a sedentary lifestyle is based on conscious choices. CONCLUSION: Being sedentary means having a lack of physical activity and social interactions, resulting in wanting to be more physically active than sometimes possible. Clinical practitioners should bear in mind that becoming more sedentary is inevitable with an ageing body, but that older adults may have an innate desire to be as physically active as possible. A lifelong exposure to physical activity, the possibility of well-being found in sedentary activities and the impact of social networks should not be overlooked when creating clinical interventions to break unhealthy sedentary behavior among older adults. To increase the understanding of sedentary behavior among older adults, future research could focus on the impact of physical impairment on sedentary behavior and the relationship between sedentary behavior and physical activity throughout life.