Physical activity

The population of older adults is rapidly growing and there is an urgent need to find how best to help them develop and maintain active lives. The purpose of this event is to bring together a multidisciplinary group of academics, policy makers and practitioners and blend evidence coming from research projects, national surveys, national schemes, and local initiatives. The morning session will focus on the dissemination of recent developments in research and policy. The afternoon session will focus on how we can translate this knowledge to feasible and effective activity promotion programmes for older adults. Representatives from local authorities, primary care trusts, charities, and the fitness industry will lead small group discussions with groups pre-organised to maximise range of expertise and experience. The groups will discuss challenges in provision of programmes targeting older adults and explore opportunities and innovative ideas about collaborative initiatives that could maximise the impact of physical activity promotion efforts. Partnership development is a key theme for this event and there will be many opportunities for networking.

Please follow the links for the workshop programme. 

Please follow the link for the speaker's presentations:

Dr Manos Stamatakis - Levels and trends of physical activity in later life

Professor Ken Fox - Summary of UK guidelines

Bob Laventure - Effectiveness of national initiatives targeting older adults

Mark Davis - Getting out and about: Findings from the Older People and Active Living Project

Professor Catharine Ward-Thompson - Outdoor environments and active ageing

Claudine Aherne - Challenges in delivering physical activity programmes in the community

Dr Afroditi Stathi - Successful interventions: The need for partnerships