Exercise and the Elderly: An Education Gap Analysis

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EDUCATION GAP TOWARDS THE IMPORTANCE OF REGAULR
EXERCISES AMONGST THE ELDERLY IN AGED CARE
Contents
Criterion 1......................................................................................................................................................1
Criterion 2......................................................................................................................................................1
Criterion 3......................................................................................................................................................2
Criterion 4......................................................................................................................................................3
Criterion 5......................................................................................................................................................3
References......................................................................................................................................................4
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Criterion 1
The physical and mental functions for an individual can be improved by regular physical exercises and
for older adults in aged health care, this is especially important in keeping the patients active, independent
and mobile (McPhee, et al., 2016). The following discussion identifies the education gap that exists
amongst the elderly residents of the aged care facility towards the importance of regular exercises and its
efficacy.
Criterion 2
Although the effects of regular physical exercise are enormous and highly publicized everywhere, a
majority of the elderly population across the world do not meet the minimum regular levels of physical
activity that is needed to keep them active and healthy. The sedentary lifestyle pre-dominates across
major sections of the society and results in early disease onset, frailty, and ill health. Although the local
authorities and health campaigns aim to promote the physical activities for the elderly population yet it is
challenging for stimulating them to perform it on a daily basis.
As per the study conducted by McPhee, et al., in 2016, a survey was done for more than 92,000
individuals from the UK and the results proved that exercise participation declined throughout the life of
the adult individual. Further, the study proved that only about 50% of the adult population and only about
1/4th of the total geriatric adults were meeting the baseline levels of physical activity required to stay
healthy (McPhee, et al., 2016).
According to the study conducted by Chase, 2013, sedentary lifestyle is becoming a problem of increased
concern and according to the survey results, about 62% of the Australians were considered as healthy
with the benefits associated with physical Activity but this number significantly dropped. Further, older
adults are more interested to get involved in physical activities of lower intensity such as gardening,
walking, bicycling, etc.
Another study was conducted by Bethancourt, et al. in 2014, according to which the regular physical
activity is essential for maintaining long term cognitive, physical, and emotional health and the study
aimed to identify the barriers as well as the facilitators for older adults to participate in Physical activity
programs. Focus group study took place across three different health clinics in Washington in which
about 50 randomly selected groups of Healthcare between the age of 66-78 years participated
(Bethancourt, et al., 2014). The study was able to find that lack of professional guidance, unawareness,
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lack of adequate education and ageing were the prominent factors for lack of participation in regular
Physical exercise by the older adults.
Criterion 3
The effects of poor education on the importance of regular physical exercise can be seen in terms of
increased mortality rates and physical dependency. Inactivity has been recognized as one of the major
causes of physiological illness and increased disease prevalence amongst the older adults which is
equivalent to the harmful effects seen by the effects of alcohol, smoking, obesity, etc. Studies conducted
by Prince, et al., in 2015 concluded that the burden of co-morbidities in the geriatric population will
require effective primary, secondary and tertiary interventions among the target population. This would
require effective and daily exercise regimens as sedentary lifestyle amongst the people aged 50 years and
above have twice the death risk as compared with the individuals who are physically active and regular in
terms of their routine (Prince, et al., 2015).
Another study was conducted by Sherrington, et al., in 2017 on about 19478 participants from 88
different trials group studies. Studies prove that the elderly adults in an aged care facility are prone
towards a high risk of falls which can contribute towards higher mortality rates. Regular exercise can
reduce the incidence of falls in the elderly population to about 21% while it also reduced the risk of falls
amongst the elderly population suffering from Parkinson’s disease to about 39% (Sherrington, et al.,
2017).
As per the study conducted by Lautenschlager, et al., in 2004, regular physical activity can also
drastically reduce the incidence of several mental health problems along with physical illness. Therefore,
the regular decrease in the physical activity resulted in a drop in quality life observed amongst the older
adults (Lautenschlager, et al., 2004). Also, it is proved that the post-hospital care is the period for older
adults where they are most prone towards the risk of falls due to lack of physical activity and therefore
should be educated in a well-directed manner about the importance of physical activity in their life.
Criterion 4
In order to reduce the identified effects of poor educational awareness on the physical activity amongst
the elderly population, the education tool that can help the healthcare workers is sensitizing them about
the importance of physical activity with the use of Health Belief Model (HBM). This education tool can
be focused primarily for the elderly population within the aged care facility and can be given by the
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healthcare workers so that this group of the population can easily understand the value of regular physical
activity (Jones, et al., 2014).
Criterion 5
This would make them realize the effect of disease if they would catch the disease themselves and
therefore would make them understand the importance of its serious consequences and the preventive
steps for reducing the outcome. Along with this, it will also make them appreciate the benefits of reducing
the danger of such a situation. This model has four major constructs:
• Perceived susceptibility
• Perceived severity
• Perceived benefits
• Perceived barriers
After these factors are identified, the healthcare workers can get the appropriate clues for an individual to
facilitate the desired strategy and behaviour. It would further involve the development of strategies such
as:
• Clarifying the goals and aims of the elderly population to have a sense of what should be achieved
with the group sessions within the healthcare setting
• Intervene here with a strategy and align their goals with a plan of action through the distribution of
handouts containing questions and answers about the strategy. This can be in the form of regularly giving
them a target to perform the physical exercises that gradually increase their physical performance or
stamina (Kirk-Sanchez and McGough, 2014)
• Help them to build a sense of self-confidence that can assist them to complete smaller goals and learn
out of them with the organized presentations
• Encourage them to develop persistence and regularity towards daily exercises
• Teach them how to monitor their self-progress and regular performance
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References
Bethancourt, H.J., Rosenberg, D.E., Beatty, T. and Arterburn, D.E., 2014. Barriers to and facilitators of
physical activity program use among older adults. Clinical medicine & research, pp.cmr-2013.
Jones, C.J., Smith, H. and Llewellyn, C., 2014. Evaluating the effectiveness of health belief model
interventions in improving adherence: a systematic review. Health psychology review, 8(3), pp.253-269.
Kirk-Sanchez, N.J. and McGough, E.L., 2014. Physical exercise and cognitive performance in the elderly:
current perspectives. Clinical interventions in aging, 9, p.51.
Lautenschlager, N.T., Almeida, O.P., Flicker, L. and Janca, A., 2004. Can physical activity improve the
mental health of older adults?. Annals of General Hospital Psychiatry, 3(1), p.12.
McPhee, J.S., French, D.P., Jackson, D., Nazroo, J., Pendleton, N. and Degens, H., 2016. Physical activity
in older age: perspectives for healthy ageing and frailty. Biogerontology, 17(3), pp.567-580.
Prince, M.J., Wu, F., Guo, Y., Robledo, L.M.G., O'Donnell, M., Sullivan, R. and Yusuf, S., 2015. The
burden of disease in older people and implications for health policy and practice. The Lancet, 385(9967),
pp.549-562.
Sherrington, C., Michaleff, Z.A., Fairhall, N., Paul, S.S., Tiedemann, A., Whitney, J., Cumming, R.G.,
Herbert, R.D., Close, J.C. and Lord, S.R., 2017. Exercise to prevent falls in older adults: an updated
systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med, 51(24), pp.1750-1758.
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