The Role of Intervention Models and Theories of Health Education and Health Promotion in Increasing Physical Activity in the Elderly: A Systematic Review

The benefits of regular physical activity have been widely acknowledged. In the present research, interventions based on the models and theories of health education and health promotion, were systematically studied in the field in the elderly physical activity.
A number of available databases, including PubMed, Scopus, The Cochrane Library, and Medline, were systematically searched using desired keywords. Interventional studies (in English) that were selected in the elderly, had been only performed in the elderly, and at least one of the models and theories of education and health promotion had been used (2000 to 2015.(
In this research, 13 studies were investigated, in which 9 interventions had significantly increased physical activity in intervention group compared to control group. The studies were conducted in health promotion environments, including health care centers, social environment, and elderly care centers. The most widely used model was the transtheoretical model. In 10 of the 13 interventions, physical activity was reported and in 2 of them, exercise was reported. In a combined intervention, both keywords had been used.
The results showed that most studies based on the models and theories of health education and health promotion have a significant positive effect on the elderly physical activity. Therefore, it is suggested that in order to achieve more effectiveness of the interventions, focus of the intervention should be on physical activity and intervention period should be increased.