Long-term effects of an assets-based, co-created physical activity intervention on health-related quality of life in older adults

The purpose of this study is to examine the long-term effects of a programme called Ser Mayor, un RETO («Being Older, a Challenge») aimed at improving quality of life in older adults over 60 living in the community. This programme used co-design principles to create sustainable opportunities to improve quality of life, connecting with the community, and empowering older adults to take responsibility for their own health. Ser Mayor, un RETO was based on Bronfenbrenner's bio-social-ecological perspective and the health assets model. Its design was complemented with leisure education and physical activity promotion-based guidelines, identified in the scientific literature. The study design was quasi-experimental, with control group, and was conducted over a period of 20-months (September 2017 to June 2019) in several municipalities near the city of Zaragoza (Spain), with the participation of 213 older adults (n=120 experimental group and n=93 control group). Data were analysed using generalised linear mixed models controlling for age and gender of participants and accounting for initial differences between groups in the study outcomes. The results indicate that the experimental group experienced an improvement in levels of quality of life relative to the control group, which was sustained over the study period, especially in several physical dimensions of quality of life: physical function (P=.014), physical role (P=.027), physical component summary (P=.022) and in emotional role (P=.033). The Ser Mayor, un RETO programme had a positive effect on the quality of life of older adults, showing potential for sustainability of its effects and for the service providers to develop a sense of ownership over the programme.