Sedentary Behaviour Interventions in Older Adults

With Chapter 14 outlining the cross-sectional and longitudinal research linking sedentary behaviour with adverse health outcomes in older adults, alongside some of the characteristics associated with being more sedentary, there is a need to conduct experimental research in order to establish the cause-and-effect relationship between sedentary behaviour and various health outcomes. As has also been described in other chapters, assuming an exercise-based intervention will naturally lead to reductions in sedentary behaviour alongside increases in moderate-vigorous physical activity time is likely to be a misnomer. In the contrary, these types of interventions may encourage more sitting through compensatory behaviour.

In this chapter, we will outline the accumulating evidence exploring the utility of various methods to reduce sedentary behaviour in older adults. Descriptions of current interventions which have been developed in order to encourage older adults to be less sedentary, through reducing their overall time spent sitting, as well as breaking up prolonged periods of sitting, will be highlighted, along with highlighting results from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. Aside from highlighting primary studies, we will also highlight the results from some of the systematic reviews which have been conducted in this topic area.