Groningen Active Living Model (GALM): stimulating physical activity in sedentary older adults

BACKGROUND: A significant number of Dutch older adults can be considered sedentary when it comes to regular participation in leisure-time physical activity. Sedentariness is considered a potential public health burden-all the more reason to develop a strategy for stimulating older adults toward becoming more involved in leisure-time physical activity. The Groningen Active Living Model (GALM) is a behavioral change strategy for stimulating participation in leisure-time physical activity.

METHODS: The GALM strategy is based on a process model of behavioral change in which behavioral change is seen as a multidimensional and dynamic process. The strategy has three phases: recruitment, introduction, and follow-up, and lasts 18 months.

RESULTS: Preliminary results indicate that, up until the summer of 1998, about 4000 older adults were participating in 76 local GALM projects. Further research will be done to assess the validity of the model and its effects on the leisure-time physical activity pattern, ADL performance, and health in newly active older adults.

CONCLUSIONS: The GALM strategy is a feasible strategy for stimulating leisure-time physical activity participation on a large-scale basis. The strategy is being implemented in The Netherlands on a nationwide basis.