Abstract
There are an increasing number of older
people globally and nationally. However
this rise in life expectancy is not always
paralleled with a good quality of life. Within
the north west of England Age UK
Lancashire was awarded three-year
funding by the Big Lottery to undertake an
Active Lives programme. This programme
delivered a range of local activity groups
aimed at promoting the health, activity,
lifestyle and wellbeing of older people
living within the community. This paper
reports the findings of a three-year
descriptive study which evaluated older
people’s experiences of participating in the
activity groups. The study identified the
impact on their health, quality of life and
wellbeing, use and benefits of the groups
and suggestions for future service
developments. Data were collected in
three phases utilising focus groups and
self-completed questionnaire surveys.
Qualitative data were analysed by content
analysis to identify key themes. Standard
descriptive analysis was used for
quantitative data. Key findings were
benefits with general improvements in
participants’ physical and mental health,
their wellbeing and quality of life. It was
concluded that Active Lives groups in the
community presented an effective means
of maintaining and improving older
people’s health and social wellbeing.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 97-112 |
Journal | Research, Policy and Planning: The Journal of the Social Services Research Group |
Volume | 32 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 15 Jan 2017 |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 15 Jan 2017 |
Keywords
- Quality of life
- active ageing
- older people
- health and social wellbeing