Low physical activity levels in older people have significant effects on their functional ability, quality of life and mental health. It can also increase their risk of falls and fall-related injuries. In 2022, the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare (AIHW), reported that falls were the number one cause of injury hospitalisation and death in Australia. When COVID-19 started to spread in Australia, our government implemented restrictions and lockdowns to slow the spread of the virus. These were crucial to protect the vulnerable members of our community, however these restrictions and lockdowns decreased opportunities for planned and incidental physical activity for older people. Gyms, pools and other exercise facilities were closed, rehabilitation classes were cancelled, and non-essential shops were closed. Many older people use shopping centres to go on their walks as the ground is flat and less likely to have obstacles like a footpath outdoors. However, restrictions prevented them from completing these walks. As we could not implement strategies face-to-face, we addressed this challenge by creating the Safe Exercise at Home website. Being an online resource, location does not prevent you from accessing the information provided you have an internet connection. To help those who do not use the internet, we created PDFs of the website information for someone to print off for the older person.

Older people in general, Older people with chronic health conditions or disability, Older people with vulnerabilities

Health, Information and Communication

Government, Academia, Health Care, Private Sector

Older people were part of the process at multiple or all stages

Our team came together with a collective concern for the limited physical activity opportunities for older people during COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns. Each member is currently involved in research and/or clinical work with older people (eg falls prevention, musculoskeletal health, physical activity, rehabilitation). Our team includes a number of organisations: University of Melbourne, Institute for Musculoskeletal Health (University of Sydney, Sydney Local Health District), Sydney Musculoskeletal Health (University of Sydney, Sydney Local Health District, Northern Sydney Local Health District), Monash University, Menzies Institute for Medical Research (University of Tasmania), Peninsula Health, National Ageing Research Institute (NARI), University of Western Australia, University of South Australia, Ageing Balance, Mater Health Services Brisbane, and University of Queensland. Our website is also endorsed by the Australian Physiotherapy Association. We came together over Zoom and identified the type of information that should be available on the website. The media teams of our organisations worked together to launch the website in the media, and we were successful in having a segment on Channel 7 News Melbourne, podcasts, news articles, and radio interviews. When doing presentations about our website, our team members acknowledge the contributions of each member and their respective organisations. University of Melbourne designed and produced the PDF website booklets. We are also working with volunteers to translate the booklet.

Our website is intended to be accessed by older people to help them get active safely at home, but it is also accessed by health professionals looking for information for their patients, and by members of the community looking for information on behalf of an older person (eg family member, friend, neighbour). We have had positive feedback from older people in the community who find the content relevant to them and the videos we reference are engaging and easy to follow along. Older people with health conditions (eg Parkinson's and osteoarthritis) have also contacted us commenting that the information on the website is exactly what they have been searching for. Health professionals and exercise facilitators recommend the website to their patients/clients and find the booklet to be a useful resource for their patients/clients. Over 42,000 users have accessed our website, with 14% being returning users. Most of our users are from Australia (76%) followed by the USA (7%), Denmark (3%), UK (3%) and Canada (2%). Most of our users are aged 55+ (32%). We have a number of younger users aged 25-34 (21%) who may access the website to find information on behalf of an older person or be a health professional.

One key issue we faced was determining how we could make our website a global resource. Due to limitations on the website platform we use, we are unable to produce the website in multiple languages without creating multiple websites, which is impractical. To overcome this, we created the website as a PDF booklet. Currently the booklet is available in English and Portuguese. In 2023, we are hoping to release the booklet in additional languages with the help of volunteers from our conference presentations and existing networks. We also faced an issue with creating a procedure for accurate booklet translation. We worked to develop a procedure with the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) team who have successfully translated their database into 17 languages using volunteers.

There is an urgent need to provide strong and clear messaging around the importance of physical activity to older people, particularly those who have disability, functional limitations or are not regularly active. Online resources provide an inexpensive method for providing information to older people and the community. Traditional media (newspaper, TV, radio), community networks and word of mouth played a key role in website usage. Throughout this process, our team also learned the importance of consumer involvement in the development phase of our website. They have played a key role in the design and content through their feedback before and after the website's launch. It helps us to realise what information people want, rather than relying on what information we think they want.

Physical activity is no longer perceived as an activity solely for younger people, rather it is an activity for all ages and all abilities - 'every more counts'. This is inspiring more older people to get active. Whilst Safe Exercise at Home was launched the year before the Decade, the positive changes made in the four action areas will help our website grow. Our website contributes to the Decade action area of 'age-friendly environments'. It helps to reduce some of the physical and mental barriers of being active for older people by providing simple advice and programs that do not need a large space or expensive equipment. The use of PDFs increases access to reliable information for those who are not regular internet users. We are also contributing to 'combatting ageism' by creating a positive and encouraging environment. Many older people believe that because of their age they are unable to be active, but we share the message that every bit of activity counts. We share stories of real people at different levels and ages to demonstrate that age should not be the limiting factor to being active. We have also shown the importance of including older people in the creation of a program. The feedback provided by older people have helped to shape our website. We also use their voice through success stories to inspire others, and have included links to online videos that include older people completing the exercises. Older people were also involved in our media launch.