ReviewBarriers and motivations to exercise in older adults
Section snippets
Elderly pose unique challenge
Although the benefits of regular physical activity have been studied extensively, researchers have only recently examined the determinants of physical activity in special populations such as the elderly. The focus of earlier exercise research was centered on healthy young and middle-aged white men [9]. As research into the older population has progressed, it is apparent that physical activity behavior in older adults is associated with diverse factors from multiple domains. Not surprisingly,
Barriers to exercise
Thus, acknowledging the unique challenges and clarifying the relevant issues is an essential step in developing a strategy to facilitate exercise in the elderly population. Yet, regardless of an individual's beliefs in the benefits of regular exercise, many barriers, real or perceived, exist which represent obstacles to the adoption and maintenance of exercise behavior. O'Neill and Reid [11] found that 87% of the elderly have at least one barrier to prohibit exercise participation.
An overview
Motivators for exercise
Because of the complex interaction between the large number of potential variables associated with behavioral change, many of the barriers to exercise for the older adult can actually serve as motivators to exercise activity. In their research, Cohen-Mansfield et al. [13] noted barriers to exercise to be highly related to motivators. For example, deteriorating health, which can reduce an older adult's ability to exercise, was also frequently cited as a motivator for increasing physical
Discussion
Given the large cohort of aging Americans, the number of older adults experiencing chronic disease and disability will continue to increase substantially over the next few decades. Consequently, maintaining health and postponing the onset of debilitating disease for as long as possible is necessary to avoid morbidity later in life. Compressing morbidity can be accomplished through exercise and regular physical activity. Although the Surgeon General's message was disseminated in 1996, adherence
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