12 Weeks Orienteering Program Exercise on Older Adults

Community-dwelling Older Adults

This study aims to determine the effects of an orientation exercise program addressed to old on physical-motor, cognitive, and affective competencies. This quasi-experimental study is a controlled trial involving an orientation exercise program. The program will run for 12 weeks (3 sessions per week). Participants will be clustered into two groups: the experimental group will perform the exercise orientation sessions, and the control group will maintain regular activities routines. Evaluations will be performed before and after the intervention. After the study is finished, the control group will attend a similar exercise program.

The aging process is lived for all and is associated with uncountable limitations, such as physical, psychological, cognitive, or emotional, that daily translate into difficulty in accomplishing normal activities (2). Simple tasks such as getting up and sitting, carrying a shopping bag, or climbing some stairs, start being seen as an obstacle, much because of aging and the associated decline in physical and cognitive competencies such as balance, limb strength, aerobic capacity, motor coordination, processing speed, memory, executive functioning and, consequently, affective competences, such as emotional states and depression may also be compromised (1). Despite the above, it is known that there are some ways and alternatives that, even not reversing the aging process, might delay it, promoting healthy aging (6). Scientific advances recommend regular physical exercise since exercise ensures a more active lifestyle and, therefore, a less dependent on others' life. There are many options that physical exercise professionals can choose for planning physical exercise programs for older people (3). Nonetheless, instead of exercise planning training prescription, other options can be used to achieve healthy aging. In alternative to traditional exercise training, sporting modalities, such as orientation, may benefit this population. According to a study, after applying a protocol that included changes to the terrain to improve older adults' balance, there were significant improvements in their stride time (4). Other studies done within the same area, which applied one questionnaire on functional well-being, and four scales on depression, gastrointestinal system, physical activity, and healthy index to senior athletes between the ages of 67 and 71, found significant improvements in all the referred parameters except for the depression scale where the control group made up of older adults who do not practice the modality showed better results (5). However, the literature is scarce concerning the participation in orientation programs by the elderly population, namely in terms of this program's effect on aerobic capacity, lower limb strength, motor coordination, processing speed, memory, and executive functioning.

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