A narrative exploratory study on the perspectives about physical exercise practise in a sample of Portuguese elderly

The overall prevalence of inactivity among individuals aged 55 or older in Portugal is the highest in Europe therefore it’s important to develop effective strategies to increase adherence to structured exercise programs by older adults (Picorelli et al., 2014a). The purpose of this paper is to characterise different perspectives on barriers and facilitators to the practise of physical exercise in a sample of the Portuguese elderly. Two groups of enrolled and non-enrolled in a community exercise program were recruited. Each group had 6 participants that were included in the study if they were ≥ 60 years of age. Two focus groups were conducted via Zoom and lasted ≤ 60 min. Participants were asked about five domains regarding physical exercise. Data analysis occurred in three phases by 2 trained and experienced examiners. While the enrolled group highlighted benefits (n = 6) and facilitators (n = 6), and shared strategies to overcome some barriers (n = 2) the non-enrolled group focused on the barriers (n = 6) instead and shared more excuses to justify their non-practice of physical exercise (n = 3). To overcome the barriers considered by the participants in the non-enrolled group, some education strategies focused on physical literacy might be crucial. The high number of barriers felt by the less active older people makes it more complicated for them to adopt and maintain an exercise program. Narratives-based methodologies are interesting methodologies to collect patient-centred perspectives about exercise practise and therefore design adequate programs.