Are they ‘worth their weight in gold’? Sport for older adults: benefits and barriers of their participation for sporting organisations

Jenkin, Claire; Eime, Rochelle; Westerbeek, Hans; O’Sullivan, Grant; Uffelen, Jannique van

doi:10.1080/19406940.2016.1220410

Cited by 23 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…The findings therefore suggest that the structure and nature of traditional sport may not be ideal for older adults, but suitable for adolescents. Together with the aforementioned research on adolescent drop-out, this study corresponds with previous research that insinuates the structure of sport and sporting policy has resulted in the prioritisation of children and adolescents as participants (Jenkin et al, 2016). Therefore, a key aspect of this research, and for policymakers, is to understand how older adults can negotiate these constraints to re-engage in sport.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

How to re-engage older adults in community sport? Reasons for drop-out and re-engagement

et al. 2021

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Internationally, many sport policies articulate a desire for lifelong participation in sport. However, participation often fluctuates throughout the lifespan and most people drop-out at some stage. Most research on dropout of sport focuses on children and adolescents, with little attention towards other age groups. The aim of this study was to investigate why adults aged 50+ years dropped out of sport during their life, and how and why they may re-engage later in life. Eight focus groups (n = 49) were conducted, with Australian National Sporting Organisations; adults aged 50+ years, who were either currently involved in sport (e.g. player/volunteer/coach) or not currently involved. The Socio-Ecological Model was used to frame the interview questions, and Leisure Constraints Theory was used to analyse the results. The main themes on drop-out included lack of appropriate playing opportunities; competing priorities; and low priority from sporting organisations. The main themes for re-engagement in sport at an older age included improving physical health; social opportunities, especially with family/friends; and having more leisure time. It is recommended that to re-engage adults aged 50+ years in active sport participation, organisations should focus on providing age appropriate playing opportunities, whilst ensuring that social interaction is an integral focus.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

How to re-engage older adults in community sport? Reasons for drop-out and re-engagement

et al. 2021

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“…Therefore, participation in sports clubs may play an important role in helping adults to stay active and to prevent frailty through the increased levels of PA among sports club members [40]. Involvement in sport and recreation activities together with other people, a club-style leisure time, in which an important function is performed by social contacts, provides substantial benefits: included interpersonal benefits (intergenerational opportunities and role models) and organizational benefits (volunteering, financial contributions and maximised facility usage) for engaging older adults [41]. In this sense, S/EA ceases to be limited to the personal interests of older adults and becomes an important social issue and a component of policies [40–42].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another potential reason can be the lack of knowledge about health benefits of PA. This problem seems to be quite crucial, because scientists believe that motivation for involvement in regular PA and integrating this activity into daily schedules requires some knowledge, experiencing the related benefits and taking actions aimed at eliminating barriers [41, 42, 50]. Knowledge alone is not sufficiently convincing to induce a person to start exercising (especially people who were previously inactive).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-Term and Medium-Term Impact of Retirement on Sport Activity, Self-Reported Health, and Social Activity of Women and Men in Poland

Biernat

Skrok

Krzepota

2019

BioMed Research International

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Background. The aim of this study was to assess how retirement affects the short-term (up to 2 years after retirement) and medium-term (2-4 years) sport/exercise activity (S/EA) of Poles. To gain a broader context for interpretation, the effect of retirement on self-rated health status, attitudes, social activity, and sexual life was analysed. Methods. A quasiexperiment utilizing data from the longitudinal study Social Diagnosis and radius-matching method was conducted. Retiring men and women were matched with similar, nonretiring ones to make comparisons of differences in S/EA and other outcomes interpretable in terms of causality. Results. Retirement does not have a significant effect in the short term on S/EA of men (p=.440) and women (p=.340). The satisfaction of men with their health status in this period was improved (p=.007), although they more often declared health problems that impaired their everyday functioning (p=.045). Women rarely reported serious health problems (p=.024). In the medium perspective, retirement had the effect on reducing S/EA in men (p=.012) and various dimensions of their social life. Although men tend to worry more often about their health (p<0.001), they are less likely to suffer from problems with moving (p=.001) and fatigue (p=.013). Despite the fact that women are more often satisfied with their health (p=.027), they also more often complain about heart or chest pain (p=.010), body pain (p=.009), and fatigue (p=.007). Conclusion. It is necessary to prepare employees for retirement much earlier than in the preretirement age. In addition to raising awareness of the effect of S/EA functions, it is necessary to monitor the physical activity of employees and to use appropriate programmes for (1) maintaining motivation among employees who are physically active before they retire and (2) raising awareness and encouraging physical activity in employees who are physically passive.

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“…More than 2 million Australians volunteer in recreation clubs and community sport and benefit from volunteering in various ways. Furthermore, Jenkin et al (2016) note the significant social benefits that can be gained by individuals who volunteer in sporting clubs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Physical Activity and Sport Participation Framework—A Policy Model Toward Being Physically Active Across the Lifespan

Westerbeek

Eime

2021

Front. Sports Act. Living

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The changing social and policy context in which sport is produced, delivered, and consumed is considered as a foundation for proposing a new integrated framework that incorporates participation in sport with participation in leisure-time physical activity (PA) more broadly. In order to position sport in the broader context of leisure-time PA, the concept of physical literacy is reviewed and integrated into the theoretical foundations of a new lifespan framework. It is argued that historically, sport policy largely focused on competitive club-based sport and elite performance and that in line with this, talent development pathway models were developed and implemented. However, with increasing physical inactivity globally, these models do not apply to the general population. This is why we propose a population-based “whole of sport ecosystem” lifespan model—the Physical Activity and Sport Participation (PASP) framework. We conclude that this framework may serve as a holistic policy and implementation guide for all in the sport ecosystem. This includes governmental PA and sport policy makers, sport governing bodies and clubs, and the ever-increasing range of private PA and sport providers and also health agencies. In recognition of the changing patterns of participation in PA and sport across the lifespan, the PASP framework can contribute to coordinated and integrated PA and sport policy development, which, in turn, can lead to strategies that tackle the global physical inactivity crisis.

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Are they ‘worth their weight in gold’? Sport for older adults: benefits and barriers of their participation for sporting organisations

Cited by 23 publications

References 57 publications

How to re-engage older adults in community sport? Reasons for drop-out and re-engagement

How to re-engage older adults in community sport? Reasons for drop-out and re-engagement

Short-Term and Medium-Term Impact of Retirement on Sport Activity, Self-Reported Health, and Social Activity of Women and Men in Poland

The Physical Activity and Sport Participation Framework—A Policy Model Toward Being Physically Active Across the Lifespan

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