Barriers and motivators to exercise for older adults: A focus on those living in rural and remote areas of A ustralia

• Published in: The Australian journal of rural health 2013-06, Vol.21 (3), p.141-149
• Main Authors: Boehm, Jackie, Franklin, Richard C., Newitt, Rose, McFarlane, Kathryn, Grant, Tonya, Kurkowski, Barbra
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1038-5282; 1440-1584
• DOI: 10.1111/ajr.12032

To identify the barriers and facilitators for exercise in older adults (50 years or over) specific to those living in rural and remote areas in A ustralia and to identify how this relates to falls prevention exercise programs in these areas. Literature review. Search of the databases of M edline, S copus and S ocial S ciences C itation I ndex. Rural and remote areas. Searching identified 56 articles relating to barriers or facilitators to exercise in older adults in general, of which 25 are discussed in the article. Five of these articles specifically related to rural and remote areas, of which all were from studies in the U nited S tates. No literature specifically relating to rural and remote A ustralia was identified. Therefore, articles included in the final review were from three different domains – world literature (excluding those specific to rural and remote areas of A ustralia), rural and remote literature (note not A ustralian), and A ustralian literature to enable a comparison between the different populations to occur. There are similarities and differences between the barriers and facilitators in various populations, and no one factor alone will enable exercise in older adults. Research needs to be conducted on the barriers and facilitators to exercise in older adults living in rural and remote areas in A ustralia. Falls prevention exercise programs need to be tailored to suit the unique needs of the rural and remote older population.