An Exploration of System Factors Influencing Older Adults’ Initial Engagement with Physical Activity Interventions

Previous work has highlighted the need for researchers to look beyond the behavioural, cognitive, and motivational components of physical activity interventions for older adults, and to investigate the ‘system-related’ factors that may influence physical activity behaviour, which pertain to their social, physical, and operational contexts.

This qualitative study aimed to explore the system factors influencing older adults’ initial engagement with physical activity interventions.

Semi-structured one-to-one telephone interviews were conducted with 12 individuals aged 55 and over to gather their views on the subject. The study employed a qualitative descriptive approach, and a thematic analysis was carried out.

Participants identified various system factors they felt could influence older adults’ engagement with physical activity interventions, particularly relating to social support and relationships (e.g. being able to bring a friend to the first session), and the physical, social, and information environments (e.g. venues being reachable by bus or car).

This study highlights system factors as a potentially important yet largely unexplored concept in the field of physical activity promotion. The findings provide practical information for public health practitioners to use when attempting to design physical activity interventions that older adults will willingly engage with, and the rationale for future research seeking to expand understanding of the influence of system factors on older adults’ initial engagement with physical activity interventions, as well as their subsequent physical activity behaviours beyond this.