Jannique G Z van Uffelen

KU Leuven | ku leuven · Department of Movement Sciences

The retirement transition has been associated with a decrease in total physical activity (PA). However, little is known about effective interventions to counteract this decrease. Prior to designing interventions, more information is needed about the changes in PA and in determinants of PA around this life change. Therefore, the first aim of this st...

Because of population ageing, there will be a vast increase in the prevalence of cognitive decline and dementia. Physical activity and sedentary behaviour have been identified as modifiable lifestyle behaviours associated with these cognitive conditions. Therefore, the aim of this bibliometric analysis is to reveal the knowledge structure of the fi...

Purpose Physical activity and sedentary behaviour have received intense interest in recent decades from a variety of stakeholders due to their diverse association with cognitive function, which is a key component in maintaining health of older adults. The aim of this bibliometric analysis is to reveal the developmental structure, research hotspots,...

The cognitive health of older adults has become an increasingly important topic as the world's population continues to age. This symposium discusses the latest research and best practices for promoting and maintaining cognitive health in older adults, with an emphasis on the role of physical activity. Four expert presentations will delve into vario...

Purpose Developing strategies to promote healthy cognitive ageing is a priority given the growing ageing population. Recent research has shown that cognitive activity (CA) combined with physical activity (PA) improves cognitive functioning. However, most studies on PA+CA have been conducted in controlled settings, and there is a need for real-life...

Purpose Increased longevity is one of the greatest success stories in public health. However, ageing is accompanied by cognitive decline which affects people’s daily functioning and, if it develops to dementia, their ability to live independently. The aim of this study is to precisely examine how the 24-hour movement behaviours, including physical...

Purpose The transition from work to retirement implies changes in daily activities and might constitute an opportunity to increase physical activity (PA). While qualitative studies reported that retirees mainly perceived increases in PA during this life transition, quantitative studies observed decreases in total PA. Moreover, changes in total PA s...

With increasing numbers of older persons in the world, new practices and programs are needed to support active aging. These new practices and programs should rely on research-based evidence, be tested in real-world settings, and also be both sustainable and scalable to the society. In this symposium we aim to share practice-to-policy-related exampl...

Background Preliminary evidence suggests that web-based physical activity interventions with tailored advice and Fitbit integration are effective and may be well suited to older adults. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the engagement, acceptability, usability, and satisfaction with ‘Active for Life,’ a web-based physical activity intervention...

Community-based walking groups constitute a promising avenue to increase both the levels of physical activity and the social connectedness of older adults. In addition, while peer-led walking groups seem to be as effective as professional-led programs, they are more cost-effective and socially integrative. In collaboration with a Flemish socio-cult...

Background With a rapidly ageing society, healthy ageing has become a key challenge for older adults. Engagement in physical activity, and particularly walking, is a key strategy that contributes to healthy ageing. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a group walking program for older adults that incorporates the 5R Shared Leadership...

Introduction Research increases our understanding on the efficacy of exercise and physical activity on older adults' health and well-being. However, the scientific output is relevant in experimental or clinical settings only and cannot be easily implemented in real-life setting. Consequently, the public health impact of the research output fails to...

Background: With a rapidly ageing society, healthy ageing has become a key challenge. Engagement in physical activity, and particularly walking, is a key strategy that contributes to healthy ageing amongst older adults. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of a group walking program for older adults that incorporates the 5...

Background Physical activity is an integral part of healthy aging; yet, most adults aged ≥65 years are not sufficiently active. Preliminary evidence suggests that web-based interventions with computer-tailored advice and Fitbit activity trackers may be well suited for older adults. Objective The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness o...

Hoewel de meeste patiënten beseffen dat meer bewegen, gezonder eten en minder of niet roken hun lichamelijke en mentale gezondheid ten goede zal komen, slaagt slechts een minderheid erin om tot blijvende gedragsverandering te komen. Hulpverleners worstelen dan ook met de vraag waarom het voor veel mensen zo moeilijk is om hun leefstijl te verandere...

Community sport is seen as a suitable setting for physical activity for different population groups. Older adults (aged 50+ years) are a rapidly growing population group. Physical activity is critical for healthy ageing, however sport participation rates for older adults are very low. The aim of this study was to investigate how sporting organisati...

BACKGROUND Physical activity is an integral part of healthy aging; yet, most adults aged ≥65 years are not sufficiently active. Preliminary evidence suggests that web-based interventions with computer-tailored advice and Fitbit activity trackers may be well suited for older adults. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness o...

Background Research in controlled laboratory settings shows that physical activity programs enriched with cognitive challenges enhance the benefits of physical activity on cognition in older adults. This translational study aimed to conceptualise a real-life, cognitively enriched walking program for older adults (65+) by investigating (a) which cog...

Internationally, many sport policies articulate a desire for lifelong participation in sport. However, participation often fluctuates throughout the lifespan and most people drop-out at some stage. Most research on drop-out of sport focuses on children and adolescents, with little attention towards other age groups. The aim of this study was to inv...

Physical activity has been proposed as an effective alternative treatment option for the increasing occurrence of sleep problems in older adults. Although higher physical activity levels are associated with better sleep, the association between specific physical activity intensities and sedentary behaviour (SB) with sleep remains unclear. This stud...

Background: One in two older adults report sleep problems, which not only cause fatigue, but also negatively affect general functioning, activities of daily living, and physical and mental health. Although it is known that physical activity is positively associated with sleep in older adults, the effects of physical activity programs on sleep in o...

Introduction Physical activity is an integral part of healthy ageing, yet the majority of older adults 65+ years are not sufficiently active. Web-based physical activity interventions hold much promise to reach older adults. Preliminary evidence suggests that web-based interventions with tailored advice and Fitbits may be well suited for older adul...

Objective: To explore older adults’ perceptions and preferences for web-based physical activity interventions. Participants: Adults 65+ years were recruited via telephoning randomly selected households in Central Queensland, Australia. Methods: Six focus groups were conducted with a total of 46 adults 65+ years. Data were analyzed by qualitative co...

Background: Regular physical activity (PA) has many health benefits but declines with age. Community multi-activity groups offering volunteer-led socially-oriented activity programs could provide an opportunity for older people to maintain or increase PA levels and promote their health. The aim of this study was to examine the potential effect of...

Aim of this presentation is to summarize the scope of this research. (1)Intervention study : to examine (1) prospective associations between physical activity, sleep and health outcomes (quality of life, well-being and daily functioning) and (2) the mediating role of sleep in the relation between physical activity and health outcomes among older ad...

From 19th to 22nd November 2018, 26 researchers representing nine countries and a variety of academic disciplines met in Snekkersten, Denmark, to reach evidence-based consensus about physical activity and older adults. It was recognised that the term ‘older adults’ represents a highly heterogeneous population. It encompasses those that remain highl...

Background The majority of institutionalized older adults do not exercise, despite the many health benefits. The current study investigated whether a framed intervention can motivate older adults in assisted living facilities (ALFs) to perform functional resistance exercises. It was hypothesized that repeated framing of these exercises from a preve...

Abstract Background The evidence showing the ill health effects of prolonged sedentary behaviour (SB) is growing. Most studies of SB in older adults have relied on self-report measures of SB. However, SB is difficult for older adults to recall and objective measures that combine accelerometry with inclinometry are now available for more accurately...

Age related changes in sleep affect general functioning, activities of daily living, quality of life, cognitive performance, capacity to exercise and may contribute to insomnia Pharmaceutical treatment options for sleep problems can cause side effects. Physical activity and exercising are a promising non-pharmacological treatment for sleep problems...

An understanding of physical activity attitudes, preferences, and experiences in older adults is important for informing interventions. Focus groups were conducted with 46 regionally-based Australian adults aged 65 years and older who were not currently meeting activity recommendations. Content analysis revealed that participants mainly engaged in...

Background: Social wellbeing factors such as loneliness and social support have a major impact on the health of older adults and can contribute to physical and mental wellbeing. However, with increasing age, social contacts and social support typically decrease and levels of loneliness increase. Group social engagement appears to have additional b...

Background Retirement is a life transition involving an obligatory change in how people use their time. Because there are strong associations between use of time and health, different changes in time use following retirement may have different impacts on mental health. Methods 105 participants were followed from 6 months before retirement to 12 mo...

Complete dataset. The complete dataset on which this analysis was based. (XLSX)

Objectives: Fitness industry professionals (personal trainers, group instructors) may have a role in health promotion, particularly when working with subgroups with known health risks (e.g. older adults, obese). The aim of this study is to examine fitness professionals' level of interest in engaging with high-risk populations. Study design: Cros...

Citation Julie Vanderlinden, Jannique van Uffelen. The prospective associations and effects of physical activity and exercise on the quantity and quality of sleep in older adults: a systematic review. Published studies will be identified, as follows:-Searching six electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, SPORTDiscus, PEDro, CINAHL);-Th...

Objectives The aim of this study was to compare the characteristics of users of holistic movement practices in Australia to people who were physically active but not using holistic movement practices. A second aim was to compare characteristics of users of specific holistic movement practices (yoga/Pilates and t'ai chi/qigong). Design We performed...

Background: The global population is ageing. As ageing is often associated with a decline in health, there is a need to further develop preventative health measures. Physical activity can positively influence older adults' (aged 50 years and older) health. Previous research on the relationship between physical activity and health for older adults...

Despite the health benefits of sport, the proportion of people participating in sport decreases with age. This qualitative study explored the benefits and barriers regarding older adult community sport participation, from the perspective of National Sporting Organizations, in addition to older adult sport club and non-sport club members, across eig...

This study examined sitting time, knowledge and intentions to change sitting time in older adults. An online survey was completed by 494 Australians aged 65+. Average daily sitting was high (9.0hrs). Daily sitting time was the highest during TV (3.3hrs), computer (2.1hrs) and leisure (1.7hrs). A regression analysis demonstrated that women were more...

Aim Global populations are ageing and ageing is commonly associated with a decline in health. As physical activity can provide physical, psychological and social health benefits, especially in old age (Haskell et al 2007), diverse physical activity options are needed to enable and encourage healthy ageing. The concept of sport for health is a bec...

Background Although regular participation in physical activity (PA) has health benefits across the life span, the proportion of people doing sufficient activity for these benefits decreases with age. The aim of this study was to identify motivating factors and context preferences for PA in people in their sixties, and to examine gender differences...

Objectives Assessment and monitoring of client health and fitness is a key part of fitness professionals’ practices. However, little is known about prevalence of this practice. This study describes the assessment/monitoring practices of a large sample of Australian fitness professionals. Design Cross-sectional. Methods In 2014, 1,206 fitness prof...

Background In recent decades, the evidence supporting the physical and mental health benefits of holistic movement practices such as yoga and t’ai chi have become increasingly established. Consequently, investigating the participation prevalence and patterns of these practices is a relevant pursuit in the public health field. Few studies have provi...

Background The promotion of active and healthy ageing is becoming increasingly important as the population ages. Physical activity (PA) significantly reduces all-cause mortality and contributes to the prevention of many chronic illnesses. However, the proportion of people globally who are active enough to gain these health benefits is low and decre...

Objectives This study aimed to investigate how daily use of time changes across the retirement transition and how these changes may differ according to socio-demographic characteristics. Study design This longitudinal cohort study was based on interviews with 124 people at pre-retirement and at three, six and 12 months after retirement. Main outc...

Few studies have examined the sources of practice knowledge fitness trainers use to inform their training methods and update knowledge. This study aims to describe sources of practice knowledge among Australian fitness trainers. In July 2014, 9100 Australian fitness trainers were invited to complete an online survey. Respondents reported the freque...

Background Indigenous Australians and New Zealanders have a significantly shorter life expectancy than non-Indigenous people, mainly due to differences in prevalence of chronic diseases. Physical activity helps in the prevention and management of chronic diseases, however, activity levels are lower in Indigenous than in non-Indigenous people. Objec...

The ageing global population has led to an increased focus on health for older adults. However, older adults have not been a specific priority for some sporting organisations (SOs). Thus, there is an emerging opportunity for this age group to be considered within international sport policy. The aim of this study was to understand the benefits and b...

Physical activity (PA) is positively associated with health-related quality of life (HRQL) in older adults. It is not evident whether this association applies to older adults with poor mental health. This study examined associations between PA and HRQL in older women with a history of depressive symptoms. Participants were 555 Australian women born...

Populations throughout the developed world are ageing. In Australia, the proportion of adults aged 50+ years is projected to increase to 39% by 2061. At present, many Sporting Organisations (SOs) tend to prioritise younger age group participants, and therefore older adults are not a high priority. However, as sport participation declines with age,...

Background: Sedentary behaviours (time spent sitting, with low energy expenditure) are associated with deleterious health outcomes, including all-cause mortality. Whether this association can be considered causal has yet to be established. Using systematic reviews and primary studies from those reviews, we drew upon Bradford Hill's criteria to con...

Background Leisure-time physical activity and strength training participation levels are low and socioeconomically distributed. Fitness trainers (e.g. gym/group instructors) may have a role in increasing these participation levels. However, it is not known whether the training location and characteristics of Australian fitness trainers vary between...

Background: the aim of this study was to explore the associations between use of time and momentary hedonic affect ('enjoyment') in adults in the peri-retirement period. Methods: a total of 124 adults [61 males, 63 females; age 62 (4) years] completed a computerised use-of-time recall on 4 days at each of four time points (3-6 months pre-, 3, 6...

Background: How people use their time has health implications, but use of time may be influenced by factors such as age, sex, education and health. Objective: This study aimed to provide detailed information on the daily activity patterns of older working people. Study design: 139 older Australian adults (aged 50-79 years) undertook comprehens...

OBJECTIVE:The current Australian Physical Activity Guidelines recommend that adults engage in regular muscle-strengthening activity (e.g. strength or resistance training). However, public health surveillance studies describing the patterns and trends of population-level muscle-strengthening activity participation are sparse. The aim of this study i...

Sport is a form of physical activity which provides an excellent opportunity to be active in an enjoyable way. In addition to personal enjoyment, regular physical activity also improves physical and mental health, which has the potential to improve overall quality of life. Furthermore, club based or team based sport participation has been associate...

Background The current Australia's Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines recommend that adults engage in regular moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) and strength training (ST), and minimise time spent in sedentary behaviours (SB). However, evidence about the specific individual and concurrent distribution of these...

In an ageing population, physical activity, including sport, is being recognised as a tool that can enhance quality of life (World Health Organisation, 2012). Despite evidence demonstrating that sport can have health benefits, few adults participate in organised sport (Eime et al, 2014). This study aimed to explore the opinions of both older adults...

Objective: To identify subgroups of Australian adults likely to receive physical activity advice from their general practitioner and to evaluate the content of the advice provided. Methods: Participants (n=1,799), recruited from the Australian Health and Social Science panel, completed an online survey. Signal Detection Analysis was used to iden...

AIM A lack of regular physical activity contributes to poor physical, mental and social health, all of which negatively impact on quality of life (Haskell et al, 2007). Sport, as a popular form of physical activity, has specific health benefits across the lifespan, however sport specific participation tends to decline with age (Eime, Payne & Harvey...

The contribution of sport to overall health-enhancing leisure-time physical activity (HELPA) in adults is not well understood. The aim was to examine this in a national sample of Australians aged 15+ years, and to extend this examination to other ostensibly sport-associated activities. The 2010 Exercise, Recreation and Sport Survey (ERASS) was cond...

Physical activity (PA) has a positive association with health-related quality of life (HRQL) in the general population. The association between PA and HRQL in those with poor mental health is less clear. To examine the concurrent and prospective dose-response relationships between total PA (TPA) and walking only with HRQL in women aged 50-55 years...

Background A lack of regular physical activity contributes to poor physical, mental and social health. Despite evidence demonstrating that sport can have specific health benefits, participation decreases with age. By understanding the participation barriers for adults, and also the barriers for sporting organisations to engage older adults , usefu...

Objective: To describe the total and domain-specific daily sitting time among a sample of Australian office-based employees. Methods: In April 2010, paper-based surveys were provided to desk-based employees (n=801) in Victoria, Australia. Total daily and domain-specific (work, leisure-time and transport-related) sitting time (minutes/day) were ass...

Issue addressed: Although pole walking (PW) has the potential to be a useful health-enhancing physical activity (PA), little is known about by whom or how it is being practised. The aims of this study were to describe (1) the characteristics of PW leaders, pole walkers and PW programs in Australia, and (2) participants' perceptions of PW and their...

Physical activity is associated with better physical and mental health in older adults. Pole walking is a form of walking which may have additional health benefits in older adults, because of the addition of hand held poles, and consequent upper limb involvement. However, few studies have examined the potential additional effects of pole walking on...

Objectives To identify the biological, socio-demographic, work-related and lifestyle determinants of physical activity (PA) in young adult women. Design Prospective cohort study. Methods Self-reported data from 11,695 participants (aged 22-27 years in 2000) in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health were collected over 9 years in 2000...