Examining the New-Member Effect to an Established Community-Based Physical Activity Program for Older Adults in England

Geoff Middleton, Robyn Hambrook, Daniel C. Bishop, Lee Crust, David R. Broom

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
48 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Community-based group physical activity programs promote exercise opportunities for older people. The aim of this study was to examine the short-term, new participant effect after joining Vitality, a community-based group physical activity program available in the East of England for older adults. Two independent groups of participants were assessed before and after an 8 week period: a group recruited from the ‘Vitality’ program (VP) (n 15, age: Age = 69.4 ± 6.4 y), and; a non-intervention control (CON) group (n 14, age: 64.5 ± 5.8 y). Assessment outcomes included basic physical health measures, a fitness test battery, and three psychological scales. The VP group recorded statistically significant improvements on the following outcomes: body mass (VP: −1.39 kg/CON: −0.2 kg), body mass index (VP: −1.5 kg/CON: −0.2 kg), 6 min walk (VP: +42.81 m/CON: −0.45 m), 30 s sit-to-stand (VP: −1.7 s/CON: −0.7 s), the chair sit-and-reach (VP: +3.12 cm/CON: +1.90 cm), and the 30 s arm curl test (VP: + 2 reps/CON: +0.9 reps). No significant differences were found with the other outcomes assessed. New members to the Vitality program achieved several physical and functional benefits without regression on any aspects of physical or psychological health.
Original languageEnglish
Article number6161
Number of pages12
JournalInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume20
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17 Jun 2023

Bibliographical note

Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

Funder

This study received funding by Leisure in the Community Ltd., UK.

Keywords

  • older adults
  • exercise
  • physical fitness
  • elderly
  • therapeutic exercise

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Examining the New-Member Effect to an Established Community-Based Physical Activity Program for Older Adults in England'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this