A novel approach to increase physical activity in older adults in the community using citizen science: a mixed-methods study

The aims of this study were to implement a novel, community-based physical activity (PA) intervention in a Swiss town with active participation of elderly participants and to evaluate its effectiveness, feasibility, acceptability and sustainability. The CAPACITY intervention combined important determinants of PA, used smartphone apps to provide feedback/facilitate interaction, and followed a citizen science approach to enable participants to organize walking groups. We targeted persons > 60 years from Wetzikon. Assessments took place at baseline and after 6 months, during this intervention period, and 11 months after step-wise withdrawal of the study team. Twenty-nine persons were included in the study; 25 conducted 6-month follow-up. They had a significant increase in moderate-to-vigorous PA (p= 0.046) but not in daily steps (p= 0.331). After the intervention period, key participants took over organization, independently organized monthly get-togethers, added new walking routes and continuously recruit new participants. Eleven months after withdrawal of the study team, 61 people regularly walk in groups together. The novel CAPACITY intervention was successfully implemented, transferred to participants and is now self-sustainable for almost 1 year in the community.