Get up, stand up: new review looks at reducing sedentary behaviour in older adults

The ABC ’s recent documentary series Old people ’s home for 4 year olds surprised many by becoming a runaway ratings success. It attracted more viewers than Masterchef and took out an international Emmy Award to boot. It’s the first time the lives of lonely older Australians struggling with isolation, health and mental health issues have been the subject of so much public interest and attention. For Cochrane author Dr Paul Gardiner, this represents a welcome development.‘One of the great public health successes of the twentieth century was increasing people’s lifespan,’ Paul says, ‘Now we really need a greater focus on the health and quality of life of older people throughout those additional years. To date, in many ways, they’ve been a largely forgotten population.’Paul has long been interested in the well-being of older people, and believes understanding and addressing the impact of sedentary behaviour is one of the keys to delivering better health outcomes. As part of his  broader research program, he recently co-authored a new Cochrane review on  interventions for reducing sedentary behaviour in community ‐dwelling older adults.  ‘This is the first review of interventions specifically targeting older people living in the community,’ he explains. ‘This is especially important because while we often hear concerns about children’s screen time or office workers sitting for too long at their desks, older adults are actual ly the most sedent...
Source: Cochrane News and Events - Category: Information Technology Authors: Source Type: news