Likeability and perceived effectiveness of messages designed to encourage physical activity participation among older adults

Issue addressed: Older adults are significantly less likely than their younger counterparts to engage in physical activity. Comprehensive policies to support healthy ageing thus need to include components encouraging greater participation in physical activity in later life. This study tested potential messages for use in health communication campaigns aimed at increasing physical activity among older adults. Methods: Twelve written messages designed to encourage older adults to increase their levels of physical activity were rated by Australians aged 60-92 years (n = 369; 54 % female) on the variables of likeability and perceived effectiveness. Results: Ratings for all the tested messages were high across both outcome variables. The message Move more, live longer scored most favourably, with large majorities of participants liking this message (87 %) and considering it effective (81 %). Messages featuring rhyming or alliteration were rated significantly higher on both outcomes than messages without these attributes (all Ps \u3c .001). Conclusions: Results provide insights into the types of messages that are likely to be accepted by older adults. Statements that use the phonological patterns of rhyming or alliteration are likely to be especially well received. So What?: Increasing participation in physical activity among older adults is critical to promoting the sustainability of health care systems and enhancing quality of life. The specific messaging attributes identified in the present study as being effective could be used by public health practitioners to inform their approach to physical activity messaging to older adults and incorporated into future health communication campaigns to increase their potential effectiveness with this target group

Communicating with older people about physical activity

Objective: Little is known about how to effectively encourage higher levels of activity among older people. This study tested the effectiveness of a public service advertisement designed according to recommendations for communicating with older audiences and featuring five types of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity: tennis, line dancing, cycling, swimming and jogging. Methods: A survey administered to 1,200 Australians aged 50+ years assessed effects of the public service advertisement on: motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic); perceived believability, relevance, and effectiveness; and feelings elicited (e.g. interest, hope, guilt). Open-ended questions enabled respondents to describe aspects of the ad they considered to be most and least effective. Results: Moderate to high scores were obtained on the motivation measures and the ad evaluation criteria of perceived effectiveness, likeability, believability and personal relevance. Mean scores for the feelings measures were generally low, with the exception of the positive feelings of being interested, inspired, hopeful and determined. Conclusions: The results suggest physical activity promotion ads can be motivating across age and socioeconomic subgroups of older people. Implications for public health: Ads aiming to encourage older people to be more physically active may be accepted and effective if they depict everyday older people enjoying a range of relevant activities

Testing campaign slogans designed to motivate older people to be more physically active

Objectives and importance of study: Being physically active is critical for healthy ageing, yet many older people do not meet physical activity guidelines. The aim of this study was to test the relative effectiveness of five previously identified campaign slogans designed to encourage older people to be more physically active: ‘Be active 30–60 minutes a day to stay fit and well’; ‘Move more, live longer’; ‘Stay fit to stay functional’; ‘This is your time – enjoy being strong and active’; and ‘Use it or lose it’. Study type: Online experiment Methods: A total of 1200 Australians aged 50 years and older (50% female, mean age 65 years) were recruited to complete an online survey, with respondents randomised to answer a series of questions on a video featuring one of the five slogan conditions. One-way ANOVAs with Tukey’s post-hoc tests were used to identify differences in outcomes between slogans. Results: Overall, the slogans were assessed favourably, suggesting older adults may be receptive to messages about increasing their physical activity. ‘Use it or lose it ‘performed best across the outcome measures of internal and external motivation, perceived effectiveness, liking, believability, and personal relevance. Conclusion: Efforts to encourage physical activity among older Australians could use the slogan ‘Use it or lose it’ as an evidence-based tagline. © 2023 Pettigrew et al

An exploratory study of the relative effects of various protective factors on depressive symptoms among older people

© Copyright © 2020 Worrall, Jongenelis, McEvoy, Jackson, Newton and Pettigrew. Objective: The present study investigated the relative importance of various factors found to be negatively associated with depressive symptoms in older adults and assessed the potential moderating effect of sociodemographic characteristics for each factor. Method: Depressive symptoms were measured with the Center of Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Psychological, social, and physical health measures relating to the following factors were also administered: personal growth, purpose in life, self-esteem, self-efficacy, social support, self-rated health, life satisfaction, and physical activity. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to investigate the most important factors associated with depressive symptoms, and moderation analyses were employed to identify any moderating effects of sociodemographic factors. Results: Life satisfaction, self-esteem, and purpose in life were found to be negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Only one moderating effect was observed—the negative relationship between life satisfaction and depressive symptoms was significantly stronger among the younger respondents. Conclusion: These findings suggest that strategies for the prevention or amelioration of depressive symptoms across subgroups of the senior population could be optimized by focusing on enhancing life satisfaction, self-esteem, and purpose in life

The effect of chronic disease warning statements on alcohol-related health beliefs and consumption intentions among at-risk drinkers

Informing drinkers of the health risks associated with alcohol consumption via warning statements located on alcohol products can increase their capacity to make healthier choices. This study assessed whether exposing at-risk drinkers to warning statements relating to specific chronic diseases increases the extent to which alcohol is believed to be a risk factor for those diseases and influences consumption intentions. Australians drinking at levels associated with long-term risk of harm (n = 364; 72% male) completed an online survey assessing their drinking habits, beliefs in the link between alcohol and various diseases and drinking intentions. Respondents were then exposed to one of five statements advising of the potential risks associated with alcohol consumption (either cancer, liver damage, diabetes, mental illness or heart disease). Beliefs and drinking intentions were reassessed. Significant increases in the extent to which alcohol was believed to be a risk factor for diabetes, heart disease, mental illness and cancer were found. With the exception of the liver damage and heart disease statements, exposure to each statement was associated with a significant reduction in consumption intentions. Warning statements advising of the specific chronic diseases associated with alcohol consumption can produce favourable changes in drinking intentions among at-risk drinkers

Anticipating and addressing event-specific alcohol consumption among adolescents.

Background: Various specific events and celebrations are associated with excessive alcohol consumption and related harms. End-of-school celebrations such as Schoolies in Australia are of particular concern given high levels of documented harm among underage and young drinkers. The present study investigated high school students’ expectations of their Schoolies celebrations to inform future interventions to reduce adverse outcomes among members of this vulnerable group and other young people involved in similar rites of passage. Methods: A link to an online survey was distributed via high schools and Schoolies-related websites. The survey included qualitative questions that invited respondents to discuss (i) aspects of Schoolies they were looking forward to most and least and (ii) their perceptions of the likely consequences if they refrained from consuming alcohol during the event. In total, 435 students provided responses. Results: Respondents discussed the role of Schoolies in marking their transition to adulthood. Their comments revealed a cross-temporal focus indicating that Schoolies is simultaneously symbolic of the past, present, and future. Through its ability to enhance social interaction, alcohol was perceived to have a vital role in realising the potential of this event to signify and facilitate this temporal progression. Conclusions: Results suggest interventions that treat Schoolies as an isolated event that occurs in specific locations may fail to appreciate the extent to which these events transcend time for those involved. Instead, harm reduction is likely to involve a reconceptualisation of the event among both participants and authority figures to facilitate the provision of alternative pastimes to drinking during Schoolies that yield similar social benefits

Support for e-cigarette regulations among Australian young adults

Background: Surveying support for various regulatory options relating to e-cigarettes can assist policymakers to identify those that have broad support and are therefore likely to be easier to implement. However, data on support for potential e-cigarette regulations in Australia are limited. To inform regulatory efforts, the present study assessed attitudes to the regulation of e-cigarettes among Australian young adults, the most prevalent users of e-cigarettes and therefore the most likely population segment to be affected by e-cigarette regulations. Methods: A total of 1116 Australians aged 18 to 25 years (59% female) completed an online survey where they were presented with various statements relating to the regulation of e-cigarettes and asked to report on the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with each. Statements presented either a restrictive or non-restrictive approach to e-cigarette regulation. Results: Across all statements, 10-22% of respondents responded "don't know" while 23-35% neither agreed nor disagreed, indicating general ambivalence. There was a moderate level of support (33-37%) for regulating e-cigarette sales/use and treating e-cigarettes like tobacco products. Only 20% of respondents were in favour of allowing the use of e-cigarettes in smoke-free areas. Smokers, e-cigarette users, and those who did not believe in the harms associated with e-cigarettes were typically less likely than other respondents to support restrictive approaches. Conclusions: The young Australian adults surveyed were somewhat supportive of restrictions around the sale and use of e-cigarettes, but generally opposed outright bans and any need for a prescription from a medical practitioner. Increasing awareness of the harms associated with the use of e-cigarettes represents a potential strategy to gaining regulatory support

The Interplay Between Strictness of Policies and Individuals' Self-Regulatory Efforts: Associations with Handwashing During the COVID-19 Pandemic

BACKGROUND: Patterns of protective health behaviors, such as handwashing and sanitizing during the COVID-19 pandemic, may be predicted by macro-level variables, such as regulations specified by public health policies. Health behavior patterns may also be predicted by micro-level variables, such as self-regulatory cognitions specified by health behavior models, including the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA). PURPOSE: This study explored whether strictness of containment and health policies was related to handwashing adherence and whether such associations were mediated by HAPA-specified self-regulatory cognitions. METHODS: The study (NCT04367337) was conducted among 1,256 adults from Australia, Canada, China, France, Gambia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, and Switzerland. Self-report data on cross-situational handwashing adherence were collected using an online survey at two time points, 4 weeks apart. Values of the index of strictness of containment and health policies, obtained from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker database, were retrieved twice for each country (1 week prior to individual data collection). RESULTS: Across countries and time, levels of handwashing adherence and strictness of policies were high. Path analysis indicated that stricter containment and health policies were indirectly related to lower handwashing adherence via lower self-efficacy and self-monitoring. Less strict policies were indirectly related to higher handwashing adherence via higher self-efficacy and self-monitoring. CONCLUSIONS: When policies are less strict, exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus might be higher, triggering more self-regulation and, consequently, more handwashing adherence. Very strict policies may need to be accompanied by enhanced information dissemination or psychosocial interventions to ensure appropriate levels of self-regulation

Longitudinal associations between formal volunteering and well-being among retired older people: Follow-up results from a randomized controlled trial

Volunteering has been identified as a potential mechanism for improving the psychosocial health of older adults. Utilizing a randomized controlled trial approach, the present study assessed the extent to which commencing volunteering can improve psychosocial health outcomes for older people. Fully retired Australian adults aged 60+ years (N= 445) were assessed at baseline and allocated to either the intervention or control arms of the trial. Those in the intervention condition were asked to participate in at least 60 min of formal volunteering per week for 6 months. Per-protocol analyses were conducted comparing psychosocial outcomes for those who complied with the intervention condition (n= 73) to outcomes for those who complied with the control condition (n= 112). Those who complied with the intervention condition demonstrated significant improvements in life satisfaction, purpose in life, and personal growth scores over a 12-month period relative to those in the control condition who did no volunteering. Findings provide evidence of a causal relationship between commencing volunteering and improvements in psychosocial health among older adults and indicate that encouraging participation in this activity could constitute an effective healthy aging intervention

Assessing parents’ receptiveness to a vegetable-focussed in-school nutrition intervention

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd Objective Crunch & Sip is an Australian school-based initiative designed to increase the consumption of fruit, vegetables, and water among primary school children. To address the significant deficiencies in children's vegetable intake, the present study aimed to examine the responsiveness of parents (the main providers of food for Crunch & Sip) to a modified version of the program that focuses primarily on vegetable consumption. Participants A total of 329 Western Australian parents completed an online questionnaire examining their support for a vegetable focus for Crunch & Sip and any perceived barriers, motivators, and facilitators. Results Most (80%) parents were supportive of a shift to a vegetable focus for Crunch & Sip. Belief in the effectiveness of Crunch & Sip at improving children's attitudes towards vegetables and increasing children's vegetable consumption was found to be significantly associated with levels of support. The most commonly nominated motivator was to improve their children's eating habits and the main facilitator was the perceived ability of teachers and peers to influence children's food consumption behaviours. Identified potential barriers included th e difficulties associated with providing a variety of vegetables, maintaining freshness, and the preparation time required. The primary suggested strategy to overcome these barriers was for schools to conduct education sessions to provide information about vegetable provision options. Conclusions and implications The results suggest that parents can be supportive of school-based nutrition programs that specifically encourage the consumption of vegetables but they may require guidance to reduce the identified barriers related to vegetable provision