Social links may counter health risks

Bower, Bruce

doi:10.2307/3981139

Cited by 21 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Having transport options such as access to a car increases the number of activities engaged in, which in turn increases perceptions of quality of life (Banister and Bowling 2004;Spinney et al 2009). Conversely, loss of mobility can contribute to social isolation which contributes to poorer health outcomes and even higher depression and morbidity rates (Bower 1997;Marottoli et al 1997).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The mobility of older citizens is now the subject of much research with trends towards increasing car dependence in most Western societies (Litman 2009). Associations between improved mobility and quality of life have been established (Banister and Bowling 2004;Spinney et al 2009) whilst poorer health and well being outcomes have also been associated with lack of mobility (Bower 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Exploring public transport usage trends in an ageing population

Currie

Delbosc

2009

Transportation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring public transport usage trends in an ageing population

Currie

Delbosc

2009

Transportation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For similar reasons, older adults -especially those with decreased mobility -have more limited opportunities to engage in social activities. This reduced participation in social activities, along with changes in social roles, puts them at risk of social isolation, which has been associated with negative effects in physical and mental health [8]. Engaging in social interactions is, ironically, one important factor in helping to counter these effects [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Online Group-Exercises for Older Adults of Different Physical Abilities

Báez

Ibarra

Far

et al. 2016

2016 International Conference on Collaboration Technologies and Systems (CTS)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this paper we describe the design and validation of a virtual fitness environment aiming at keeping older adults physically and socially active. We target particularly older adults who are socially more isolated, physically less active, and with less chances of training in a gym. The virtual fitness environment, namely Gymcentral, was designed to enable and motivate older adults to follow personalised exercises from home, with a (heterogeneous) group of remote friends and under the remote supervision of a Coach. We take the training activity as an opportunity to create social interactions, by complementing training features with social instruments. Finally, we report on the feasibility and effectiveness of the virtual environment, as well as its effects on the usage and social interactions, from an intervention study in Trento, Italy. 1

show abstract

“…Extensive research has found links between social isolation and adverse physical and mental health, e.g., increased mortality rates for older adults, elevated blood pressure, dementia, depression, and cognitive decline (Bower, 1997;Fratiglioni et al, 2000;Heikkinen & Kauppinen, 2004). On the other hand, engaging in social interactions is beneficial to the health and wellbeing of older adults (Fratiglioni et al, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The interplay of physical and social wellbeing in older adults: investigating the relationship between physical training and social interactions with virtual social environments

Far

Ferron

Ibarra

et al. 2015

PeerJ Computer Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background. Regular physical activity can substantially improve the physical wellbeing of older adults, preventing several chronic diseases and increasing cognitive performance and mood. However, research has shown that older adults are the most sedentary segment of society, spending much of their time seated or inactive. A variety of barriers make it difficult for older adults to maintain an active lifestyle, including logistical difficulties in going to a gym (for some adults, leaving home can be challenging), reduced functional abilities, and lack of motivation. In this paper, we report on the design and evaluation of Gymcentral. A training application running on tablet was designed to allow older adults to follow a personalized home-based exercise program while being remotely assisted by a coach. The objective of the study was to assess if a virtual gym that enables virtual presence and social interaction is more motivating for training than the same virtual gym without social interaction. Methods. A total of 37 adults aged between 65 and 87 years old (28 females and 9 males, mean age = 71, sd = 5.8) followed a personalized home-based strength and balance training plan for eight weeks. The participants performed the exercises autonomously at home using the Gymcentral application. Participants were assigned to two training groups: the Social group used an application with persuasive and social functionalities, while the Control group used a basic version of the service with no persuasive and social features. We further explored the effects of social facilitation, and in particular of virtual social presence, in user participation to training sessions. Outcome measures were adherence, persistence and co-presence rate. Results. Participants in the Social group attended significantly more exercise sessions than the Control group, providing evidence of a better engagement in the training program. Besides the focus on social persuasion measures, the study also confirms that a virtual gym service is effective for supporting individually tailored home-based physical training for older adults. The study also confirms that social facilitation tools motivate users to train together in a virtual fitness environment. Discussion. The study confirms that Gymcentral increases the participation of older adults in physical training compare to a similar version of the application without

show abstract

Social links may counter health risks

Cited by 21 publications

References 0 publications

Exploring public transport usage trends in an ageing population

Exploring public transport usage trends in an ageing population

Online Group-Exercises for Older Adults of Different Physical Abilities

The interplay of physical and social wellbeing in older adults: investigating the relationship between physical training and social interactions with virtual social environments

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About