Older Adult Perceptions of Participation in Group- and Home-Based Falls Prevention Exercise

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health
• Exercise Science

Background:

• Falls are a significant threat to older adults' health and independence.
• Falls prevention exercise programs aim to mitigate these risks.
• Understanding participation drivers and barriers is crucial for program effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore reasons older adults initiate, continue, and cease participation in group- and home-based falls prevention exercise.
• To identify perceived benefits and barriers associated with these programs.
• To inform health professionals on optimizing exercise prescription for older adults.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study utilizing telephone surveys.
• Data collected from 394 older adult respondents.
• Analysis of participation patterns, motivations, benefits, and barriers.

Main Results:

• Most older adults were not recently engaged in falls prevention exercise (66% group, 78% home-based).
• Motivations for group exercise included health benefits (23-39%) and social interaction (4-16%).
• Commonly cited benefits were social connection (41-67%) and health improvements (15-31%); dislike of groups was a barrier (2-14%).
• Home-based exercise was initiated for rehabilitation (46-63%) or professional recommendation (22-48%), with health improvement (18-46%) as a key benefit.
• Discontinuation reasons included program completion (44%) or poor health (20%) for group exercise, and recovery (30%) for home-based exercise.

Conclusions:

• Health professionals should consider the social aspects older adults value when prescribing group falls prevention exercise.
• Tailoring interventions to address barriers like dislike of group settings and promoting sustained engagement are essential.
• Further research could explore long-term adherence and diverse program formats.