The role of physical activity in improving the quality of life from the perspective of elderly people with aerobic exercise experience

Cilj istraživanja je dobiti uvid u perspektivu starijih osoba glede njihovog iskustva sudjelovanja u grupi za aerobik starijih osoba. U kvalitativnom istraživanju sudjelovalo je 10 sudionica, članica jedne grupe za aerobik, koje su odabrane namjernim uzorkom. Podaci su prikupljeni polustrukturiranim intervjuom, a potom obrađeni postupkom tematske analize. Prema dobivenim rezultatima, starije osobe svoja iskustva sudjelovanja u aerobnom vježbanju opisuju kroz motive za bavljenje aerobikom, značaj aerobika u svakodnevnom životu, obilježja grupe za aerobik, teškoće vezane uz bavljenje aerobikom, odnose među članicama grupe za aerobik, doprinos voditeljice grupe osobnom iskustvu, iskustvo bavljenja aerobikom za vrijeme Covid-19 pandemije, reakcije okoline na bavljenje aerobikom te navode određene preporuke na temelju iskustva sudjelovanja u grupi za aerobik. Doprinos aerobika unaprjeđenju kvalitete života starijih osoba očituje se kao doprinos sudjelovanja u aerobiku fizičkom i mentalnom zdravlju, kognitivnom funkcioniranju, društvenom životu te kvaliteti slobodnog vremena. Može se zaključiti kako aerobik predstavlja poželjan i vrlo koristan oblik tjelesne aktivnosti u starosti, kojeg je potrebno razvijati i promovirati u društvu kroz povećanje njegove dostupnosti za stariju populaciju te osvještavanje društva o važnosti aerobika za zdravo i aktivno starenje.
The goal of the research is to gain insight into the perspective of the elderly regarding their experience of participating in an aerobics group for the elderly. 10 participants, members of an aerobics group, participated in the qualitative research and were selected using purposive sampling. The data were collected through a semi-structured interview, and then processed through thematic analysis. According to the results obtained, elderly people describe their experiences of participating in aerobic exercise through the motives for doing aerobics, the importance of aerobics in everyday life, the characteristics of the aerobics group, difficulties related to doing aerobics, relationships between the members of the aerobics group, the contribution of the group leader to personal experience, experience of doing aerobics during the Covid-19 pandemic, environmental reactions to participation in aerobics and their certain recommendations based on the experience of participating in an aerobics group. The contribution of aerobics to the improvement of the quality of life in old age is manifested as the contribution of participation in aerobics to physical and mental health, cognitive functioning, social life and the quality of free time. It can be concluded that aerobics is a desirable and very useful form of physical activity in old age, which needs to be developed and promoted in society by increasing its availability for the elderly population and making society aware of the importance of aerobics for healthy and active ageing.