Physical Activity Facilitators and Barriers Among Retired Women in North Carolina

Abstract

R egular physical activity reduces the risk of chronic disease, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer, in later life [1, 2]. However, only half of older North Carolinians (aged 65 or older) meet recommendations for engaging in ≥ 150 min/week of moderate or ≥ 5 min/week of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of both [2, 3]. As the population of older North Carolinians grows from 1.6 million to 2.6 million by 2035 [4], community-level efforts to support physical activity in later life will be increasingly important.Retirement might provide an opportunity to promote physical activity among older adults. Retirement might positively impact physical activity through increased free time and prioritization of health [5,6]. On the other hand, retirement might negatively impact physical activity, for example by reducing access to physical activity resources (e.g., loss of access to employment-based gym facilities) or weakening social networks [7][8][9][10].The Life Course Theory and the Social Ecological Model provide theoretical frameworks for understanding the effect of retirement on physical activity. According to the Life Course Theory, shifts in personal and social identity during retirement might create an opportunity for behavior change, including physical activity [11]. According to the Social Ecological Model (SEM), behavior is influenced by factors at the individual (e.g., self-efficacy), interpersonal (e.g., family), and environmental or community levels (e.g., access to places to be physically active) [12]. Factors that make it easier to be physically active are facilitators, whereas factors that make it more difficult to be physically active are barriers. Retirement might change exposures to factors at multiple levels of SEM. SEM has been used to inform physical activity interventions, which are more likely to be effective when targeting factors from multiple levels [12].Barriers and facilitators of physical activity among older adults have been studied previously [13][14][15][16]. However, few researchers distinguished working persons from retired persons or studied factors that influenced women's physical activity during the years immediately after retirement [8].The objective of this qualitative study was to identify barriers and facilitators of physical activity among North Carolina women who were recently retired (< 5 years). We defined physical activity broadly, including activities like walking, gardening, exercise, or playing with grandchildren. We explored barriers and facilitators at the individual, interpersonal, and environmental levels to inform potential intervention strategies applicable to recently retired women.This study was motivated in part by findings from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), a longitu-

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