McDermott Natalie, Rahman Md Saifur, Winterton Rachel, Ahasan Nazmul, Barnes Carly, Kennedy Adelle
Health Promotion, Murrumbidgee Local Health District, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.
Public Health Unit, Murrumbidgee and Southern NSW Local Health Districts, Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia.
Australas J Ageing. 2024 Dec;43(4):861-866. doi: 10.1111/ajag.13359. Epub 2024 Sep 2.
This study assessed perceived acceptability of online rural volunteer-led exercise classes among volunteer leaders and older people during the COVID-19 pandemic and interrogate differences in acceptability between older people who were currently participating in regular exercise and those who were not.
A case study was conducted of an existing volunteer-led exercise program using a cross-sectional preintervention survey (38 volunteer exercise leaders and 172 program participants).
Thirty per cent (n = 11) of the volunteer leaders reported an interest in running the online classes. Motivations included providing opportunities for participants and keeping themselves and participants fit. Thirty-four per cent (n = 42) of the older participants reported an intent to join the online classes, which was primarily attributed to the desire to keep active and to socialise. However, over 60% of the respondents across both categories did not want to engage in online exercise classes. This was primarily attributed to a preference for face-to-face classes and lack of confidence in conducting or using online activities or services. Older participants who did not regularly exercise were statistically more likely to report perceived challenges attending an online class, and to identify the use of internet-based technologies as a barrier to attendance.
Digital literacy was a challenge for the older respondents, particularly for those who were not currently engaged in regular exercise. Organisations implementing online exercise programs should recognise that this form of delivery will pose challenges to cohorts of rural older people who are not undertaking regular physical activity and address the individual and environmental barriers to digital uptake.
本研究评估了在新冠疫情期间农村志愿者主导的线上健身课程在志愿者领导者和老年人中的可接受程度，并探讨了当前经常锻炼的老年人与不经常锻炼的老年人在可接受程度上的差异。
采用干预前横断面调查（38名志愿者健身领导者和l72名项目参与者），对现有的志愿者主导的健身项目进行了案例研究。
30%（n = 11）的志愿者领导者表示有兴趣开展线上课程。动机包括为参与者提供机会以及保持自身和参与者的健康。34%（n = 42）的老年参与者表示打算参加线上课程，这主要归因于保持活力和社交的愿望。然而，两类受访者中超过60%的人不想参加线上健身课程。这主要归因于对面对面课程的偏好以及对开展或使用线上活动或服务缺乏信心。未经常锻炼的老年参与者在统计学上更有可能表示参加线上课程存在感知到的挑战，并将使用基于互联网的技术视为参与课程的障碍。
数字素养对老年受访者来说是一项挑战，尤其是对那些目前没有经常锻炼的人。实施线上健身项目的组织应认识到，这种授课形式将给未经常进行体育活动的农村老年人群体带来挑战，并应对数字技术应用方面的个人和环境障碍。
