Objectives

Exploring older adults’ visions for Physical Activity

This objective focuses on understanding how older adults perceive and envision physical activity provision, both in its current form and in the future. It aims to map the existing landscape while identifying future directions that better reflect their needs, preferences, and expectations.

Key actions include:

Investigating existing good practices, initiatives, and projects in the field of physical activity.
Elaborating a set of “visions” that capture older adults’ perspectives on ideal physical activity provision.
Validating these visions through participatory processes with older adults.

Participatory diagnosis of current practices and interventions

This objective aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of the current physical activity landscape for older adults through field research and participatory analysis.

Key actions include:

Conducting a “value mapping exercise”, based on the Schwartz value map model, to identify the most important values associated with each vision.
Identifying “component issues” linked to these values, i.e. barriers and challenges observed across different countries.
Performing an “empathy analysis” of older adult personas to better understand their attitudes, motivations, behaviours, and triggers for behaviour change.

Defining and evaluating the most appropriate interventions to support Physical Activity of older adults

This objective focuses on identifying and assessing the most effective interventions to enhance physical activity engagement among older adults, leading to a clear pathway for implementation.

Key actions include:

Conducting a crowdsourcing campaign to identify and prioritise the most promising practices.
Designing Physical Activity schemes and interventions, including both offline and online tools.
Piloting the schemes and interventions in each country to measure results and evaluate their impact.
Developing a toolkit of best practices, accompanied by a blueprint for Physical Activity engagement of older adults.

Enabling the development of Communities (CoI) of Interest of older adults

This objective aims to establish and support CoI of older adults, fostering collaboration and engagement that can potentially evolve into a Pan-European Citizen Science Hub on Active Ageing.

Key actions include:

Identifying and recruiting participants for the Communities of Interest.
Developing a “citizen panel manual” to guide the implementation of citizen engagement activities, including instructions for moderators.
Creating a virtual platform to facilitate interaction among CoI members.
Disseminating the benefits of Physical Activity engagement to a wider audience.
Maintaining continuous dialogue with CoI members and actively involving them in project activities.