ExerStart: helping seniors be active and independent for less

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this research is to examine a downstream social marketing program that slows the typical decline in functional fitness and independence of adults over 55 with particular attention to the ROI and the efficiency of the program. Design/methodology/approach Within subjects quasi-experimental design. Findings The ExerStart program is cost-efficient and effective delivering an ROI of 33 per cent. The participants of the ExerStart social marketing program significantly improved functional fitness. Further, this program demonstrates that this result may be achieved with just four exercises rather than six. Practical implications A successful, cost-effective, high-retention social marketing program is outlined for social marketers who aim to increase the functional fitness and independence of adults over 55 years. Social implications Two societal benefits, the first is that it provides direction about how to efficiently prolong the independence of adults over 55 years, and the second is that it decreases pressure and costs on the healthcare system. This may be useful for policy makers and social marketers alike. Originality/value The authors contribute to the literature in two important ways. First, this paper details a cost-effective intervention that improves the physical fitness of a significant and growing portion of the community and suggests additional considerations for future ROI calculations. Second, this paper contributes methodologically by introducing the senior fitness test (a new criterion-referenced clinically relevant physical fitness standard specifically developed for seniors).

Gym Access

“…World organizations to control and combat diseases and health promotion have created strategies to prevent and control NCDs (WHO, 2018b). Among the strategies are the monitoring of physical inactivity and obesity, which are central themes of this article as part of an innovative and practical contribution of upstream social marketing to the fight against NCDs, an extremely relevant topic in this discipline's research (Besson et al, 2020;Tweneboah-Koduah et al, 2019;van Esch et al, 2019).…”

Effects of Social Marketing Intervention on Physical Activity promotion Among the Elderly

“…Voluntaries were forced to do physical, social, and cognitive activities [26]. One of the investigations included participation in the ExerStart program and doing quadruple exercises related to the elderly's independence [27].…”

“…Product: most of the interventions studied provided products, most of which were intangible, like events [23], learning programs [22,25], voluntarily program and physical activity [26], participation in balance classes [21], and participation in the ExerStart program [27]. However, some interventions provided tangible products, like a pedometer, videotape, the educational movie of strength and flexibility movements [22], and a map of walking paths [28].…”

Promoting respite for carers of people with dementia: a case study of social marketing effectiveness in hard to reach audiences

“…It was also reasoned that the high awareness and information needs surrounding a changing system were best addressed through a strong promotional approach tailored to the diverse audience of older and younger carers, some with high digital literacy, and others with low digital literacy and/or access (Kuerbis et al , 2017). Social marketing has previously been effectively used in issues affecting older communities, used to improve health and wellness of older adults living in the community (van Esch et al , 2019; Fujihira et al , 2015) and to raise awareness and challenge the stigma of dementia in the community (Devlin et al , 2007).…”