https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8585-2218
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ABSTRACT
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.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank all the participants in this study.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Authors’ contributions
JN and TL conducted all interviews. CF, SB, and TL contributed with experience of qualitative methods. PB contributed with expertise in the field of physical activity and sedentary behaviour. All authors analysed and interpreted the text, being major contributors in writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Data availability statement
The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article [and/or] its supplementary materials.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
The study adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki’s ethical principles for medical research involving individuals (WMA, Citation2013) and was approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority, Dnr 2020–00306. Personal data were processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation, Citation2016). Prior to the study, all participants received written information and informed consent for participation was obtained.
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Joakim Niklasson
Joakim Niklasson (MSc, OT, PhD-student) is a PhD student at Linnaeus University, researching healthy ageing and movement patterns of older adults for developing sustainable interventions promoting physical activity
Sofia Backåberg
Sofia Backåberg (PT, PhD) is a senior lecturer at Linnaeus University and an Assistant Adjunct Professor at the University of Calgary. She is a co-leader of the ReAction research group and focuses on user-centred co-design research projects involving older adults.
Terese Lindberg
Terese Lindberg (RN, PhD) is a senior lecturer in nursing, programme director in the nursing programme and Head of the department of medicine and nursing at Blekinge Institute of Technology. She is involved in research projects related to older people.
Patrick Bergman
Patrick Bergman (PT, PhD) is an associate professor at the department of medicine and optometry, eHealth institute. He conducts research regarding development of physical activity assessment methods on individual level.
Cecilia Fagerström
Cecilia Fagerström (RN, PhD) is the Director of Science in Region Kalmar County, Sweden, and a Clinical Professor at Linnaeus University. She is co-leader of the ReAction research group and specializes in qualitative and quantitative research designs, as well as decision-support evidence.