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Background: Maintaining a physically active lifestyle across the life course can add to an individual's health and well-being. Many people are insufficiently active to achieve these gains with a trend towards further decreases in activity as people age. Community-based group exercise programmes have been shown to be one means of increasing sustained activity levels for older people., Aim: To understand how and why older people sustain participation to community-based group exercise programmes from a humanising perspective., Methods: A multiple-case study approach was employed to study three exercise programmes in the South-West of England. Data were collected through participant observation, focus groups and documentation. Data were analysed with deductive thematic analysis and mapped against the humanisation framework., Results: Findings suggest that the humanising nature of these particular exercise programmes supported sustained participation. In these programmes, agency was evidenced in the way participants self-selected their level of exertion with exercises. There was freedom to be their unique selves and exercise within the limits of their insider challenges of an ageing body. Through this non-judgemental exercise environment, there was an embodied understanding of who they were as people. The exercise programme became part of their personal journey. This journey helped inform their future by enabling them to keep active and maintain independence, allowing them to continue engaging in the world. There was a sense of togetherness and belonging which led to feelings of homeliness as they found a sense of place within the group. The friendships they formed helped them make sense and add meaning to their experiences and personal health challenges., Conclusions: When planning exercise environments to support the long-term adoption of a sustained behaviour change, in the form of physical activity for older people, it is helpful to consider dimensions that make an individual feel human., (© 2021 Nordic College of Caring Science.)

Background: Physical inactivity is a global phenomenon, with estimates of one in four adults not being active enough to achieve health benefits, thus heightening the risk of developing non-communicable diseases. In order to realise the health and wellbeing gains associated with physical activity the behaviour must be sustained. Community-based group exercise programmes (CBGEP) utilising social supports have been shown to be one means of not only increasing activity levels for older people, but sustaining physical activity. A gap in the literature was identified around older people's long-term adherence to real-life CBGEP within a UK context. This study therefore sought to address this gap by understanding older people's ongoing adherence to CBGEP with a view to gaining further insight about which factors contribute to enabling people to sustain their physical activity levels., Methods: A multiple case study research design was employed to understand older people's (≥60 years, n = 27) adherence (≥ 69%, for ≥ 1 year) to three current CBGEP in the South- West of England. Qualitative data (participant observation, focus groups, documents, and interviews) were collected and analysed using inductive thematic analysis followed by the analytic technique of explanation building. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and used to set the context of the study., Results: The current study offers five unique insights into real-life programmes which have been successful in helping older people maintain adherence for a year or longer. These included: factors relating to the individual, the instructor (particularly their personality, professionalism and humanised approach), programme design (including location, affordability, the use of music, and adaptable exercise content), social features which supported a sense of belonging, and participant perceived benefits (physical and psycho-social). These all served to explain older people's adherence to CBGEP., Conclusions: These factors related to participant adherence of CBGEP must be considered if we wish to support older people in sustaining a physically active lifestyle as they age. These findings are of interest to practitioners and policy makers in how CBGEP serve to aid older people in maintaining a physically active lifestyle with a view to preventing non-communicable diseases and in maintaining social connectivity.

Objective: Lifelong physical activity provides some of the best prospects for ageing well. Nevertheless, people tend to become less physically active as they age. This systematic review assessed the views and adherence of participants attending community based exercise programmes of ≥6month's duration., Method: Searches were carried out in eight online scientific databases (January 1995-May 2014) to identify relevant primary studies. Studies were assessed for quality and data extracted. Results were synthesised thematically and narratively. Qualitative findings were compared against quantitative studies., Results: A total of 2958 studies were identified and screened against the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Ten studies met the inclusion criteria (five quantitative, three qualitative and two mixed-methods study designs). None were excluded on the basis of quality. Six key themes were identified from the qualitative studies as important for adherence to group exercise programmes: social connectedness, participant perceived benefits, programme design, empowering/energising effects, instructor and individual behaviour. The mean adherence rate of studies with comparable measures was (69.1% SD 14.6). When the views of participants from the qualitative synthesis were juxtaposed against the quantitative studies, programme design was a common feature across all studies., Conclusion: Evidence surrounding these programmes is limited both in terms of long-term adherence measures and the views of participants. However, based on limited findings there is some indication that community based group exercise programmes have long-term adherence rates of almost 70%. Incorporating the views of older people into programme designs may provide guidance for innovative interventions leading to sustained adherence., (Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)