Chapter 12 Flashcards
aging population
-people over 85 years of age are the fastest growing segment of our population
life expectancy:
-in 1840’s life expectancy: 40 years
-current: 82.14 years
-going up due to the baby boomers, and living longer
health adjusted life expectancy:
-number of years a person can expect to live in good health
-69 years in men
-71 years in women
(average 10 years in disability or disease)
typical story with older adults
- physical activity declines with age
- 11% of older adults meet PA guidelines (versus 15% of canadians in general)
- older women are less active than older men
- older adults approx 10 hours per day sedentary (contributes to disability in older adults)
guidelines for older adults (65 and older)
- at least 150 minutes of moderate-vigerous intensity aerobic physical activity per week, in bouts of 10 mins or more
- also beneficial to add bone and muscle strengthening activities 2 times per week
- those with poor mobility should preform physical activities to enhance balance and prevent falls
- more physical activity provides greater health benefits
when older adults exercise, what do they do
- 66% walking
- 40% gardening
- 23% home exercises
benefits for PA for older adults
as with people of all ages, PA offers numerous health benefits for older adults
- increase cardiovascular function; decline in cardiovascular disease risk
- increase muscle mass and strength
- improved bone health (important for women- more likely to get osteoporosis
- improved balance, stability, flexibility
- improved psychological health
cognitive and physical decline with aging
- cognitive and physical abilities decline with age
- disagreement whether age-related declines in function are due to age
- “use it or lose it”: some believe age-related decline in functioning is due to a long exposure to doing very little physically
- motor skills and performance can be maintained despite age as an older adult keeps doing a related activity
2 models of skill maintenance
-the compensation model: age-related declines in one aspect of performance can be off set by improvements on another area
-the selective maintenance model: quality training and practice allow people to maintain domain-specific skills despite age
differences in skill between young and older performance can usually be explained better by amount of practice than age
maintenance of athletic performance
- cognitive and motor skills decline less with age than physiological factors (aerobic fitness)
- athletes who play skill-based sports show less decline in performance with age than those who play sports that are more physiological in nature
- age-related decline in performance has been found to relate to decreased training intensity and duration
barriers to PA in older adults
-older adults face the same barriers to PA as the rest of use
time, lack of motivation, dislike exercise
-they face some unique barriers- one common one being health problems
almost 60% of inactive older adults report poor health as a barrier to PA
agiest stereotypes
-many older adults think that PA at their age is:
-pointless
-dangerous to their health
priming age beliefs: study
-older adults who believe that physical and cognitive decline are an inevitable part of aging may stop doing activities that challenge and maintain these abilities
successful aging: the masters athlete
- older athletes who defy agiest stereotypes
- serve as role models- but do they?
- older adults are often intimidated by masterings athlete rather than inspired (varcarious experience/ self efficacy)
summary
- containing trend towards PA decline with age
- Older adults share common barriers to PA as the rest of the population
- agiest stereotypes represents a unique barrier to this population
- masters athlete defy agiest stereotypes but may not be representative of or inspirational to most older adults who try to be physically active
