Experiences and Functional Health Outcomes Associated with a Walking Football Program in Rural Older Adults: A Pilot Study.

Background: This pilot study aimed to investigate the experiences of participating in a brief walking football intervention among rural older adults and explore the functional health outcomes of participation.

Methods: This multi-methods study saw 13 older adults (7 males/6 females, 63.2 ± 9.4 years) complete 1-h of walking football per week for six weeks. Pre- and post-intervention, participants underwent assessments of body composition, as well as functional assessments using the Senior Fitness Testing Battery. On completion of the walking football intervention, all participants joined in a semi-structured focus group interview to explore their experiences of participation.

Results: Thematic analysis of focus group data identified three themes that captured participant's experiences, including: (1) "Opportunity to jump back in with what we can physically do", (2) Social connection and feeling "part of something bigger", and (3) "It's how our brain is engaged". Trivial changes were observed in assessments of body composition (0.07-0.08) and flexibility (0.02-0.19). Furthermore, small-to-large magnitude changes were observed for several functional health outcomes suggestive of improved walking capacity (0.72-1.6), agility (-0.9) and upper and lower body muscular strength (0.49).

Conclusions: Rural older adults reported experiencing perceived health and well-being improvements from participation in a brief walking football intervention, with functional health benefits also evident; however, further suitably powered evidence is highly warranted.