Helping older adults walk their way to better health and well-being
Helping older adults walk their way to better health and well-being
Although the physical and mental health benefits of physical activity are well documented,[i] [ii] most Canadians do not meet the minimum physical activity recommendations.[iii] As Canadians age, they are even less likely to engage in physical activity, iii which can increase their risk for bone fractures, falls, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, and other health issues[iv].
Nancy Salbach, a physical therapist, epidemiologist, and professor of physical therapy, in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, is setting out to help older adults become more active. She has teamed up with colleagues from across Canada to develop a walking programme that has the potential to increase the amount of time older adults spend walking outdoors, and with that, provide significant health benefits.
To test this walking programme, Nancy and her colleagues recruited 240 older adults from Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, and Montreal to participate in the study. Participants attended a one-day workshop designed to teach them walking skills, stretches, goal planning, and fall prevention. Next, participants were randomly assigned to either the “Walking Program” group or the “Weekly Reminder” group.
The “Walking Program” group completed 10 weeks of group walking sessions (two 1-hour sessions/week). The walking sessions allowed participants to practice and build upon their new skills in a safe, comfortable, and supervised small group setting. The “Weekly Reminder” group received a weekly phone call for 10 weeks, to remind them to walk outdoors and provide some coaching.
Nancy and her team wanted to compare these groups to see if the group walking sessions could benefit older adults more than simply being reminded to walk outside. The researchers believed that the “Walking Program” group would likely spend more time walking outside and would also experience better health, even after the programme ended, compared to the “Weekly Reminder” group.
The researchers measured how long participants spent each week walking outside before the programme started, and then again 3 months, 5.5 months and 12 months after it ended. Nancy and her team also measured levels of overall physical activity, leg strength, balance, mood, and a few other health metrics during those same intervals – before the study started, and then again at the 3-, 5.5-, and 12-month points.
Being able to compare the results for these two groups will help the researchers make sure their intervention, the walking programme, is working. Nancy and her team of research analysts are studying the data they collected and will soon have results to share with the community.
This is an exciting study because walking programmes like this could be adapted for widespread use in communities across the country. For example, community centres, seniors’ centres, and other recreational facilities could offer similar programmes. Opportunities like this may encourage older adults to be more active and ultimately improve their well-being and quality of life. You can read more about how Nancy hopes to use her results on the Canadian Institutes of Health Research website.
Nancy's walking programme is funded by Research Manitoba, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada, and the University of Toronto. The partner for this research is the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology. To learn more about the important work that Nancy does, visit the University of Toronto Physical Therapy website.
[i] Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Benefits of physical activity. 2022 Benefits of Physical Activity | Physical Activity | CDC (Accessed December 12, 2022).
[ii] National Institutes of Health: National Institute on Aging. Real-life benefits of exercise and physical activity. 2020 Real-Life Benefits of Exercise and Physical Activity | National Institute on Aging (nih.gov) (Accessed December 12, 2022).
[iii] Statistics Canada: The Daily - Canadian health measures survey: activity monitor data, 2018-2019. 2021 The Daily — Canadian Health Measures Survey: Activity monitor data, 2018-2019 (statcan.gc.ca) (Accessed December 12, 2022).
[iv] Johns Hopkins Medicine. Risks of physical inactivity. 2022 Risks of Physical Inactivity | Johns Hopkins Medicine (Accessed December 12, 2022).