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Take part in our study about patterns of physical activity behaviour

We need volunteers to take part in our study investigating patterns of physical activity behaviour in older adults (60+).

Take part in this study

The aim of this study is to explore patterns of physical activities, like exercise or walking, and your thoughts and feelings in a week.

This study will run until 31 March 2024.

We will ask you to attend one meeting (up to 2 hours) with the research team at the University of Bath campus, or a public place of your choice. If you would prefer for us to meet you at your home, this can be arranged.

If the study is suitable for you and you would like to take part, we will ask you to fill out a question sheet that asks you to tell us a bit more about you (like your age and living status) and your physical activity habits.

We will give you a small wearable device that measures your activity, which you will need to wear non-stop for a week. The device can be worn on your thigh (attached with sticky tape) or clipped onto a hip belt. We will help you to put this on and show you how it works. This device will not tell us your location or track where you go, it will just record how much movement you are doing. It does not matter how little or much physical activity you do.

We will then loan you a smartphone and charger for the short survey. We will show you how to unlock the smartphone, how to charge the smartphone, and how to use the smartphone survey application. The smartphone surveys will begin the same day and cover topics like:

  • where you have been active (like walking in a park)
  • what you were doing (walking, general movement, yoga, dancing, sport, etc.)
  • who you were with (alone, with friends or family, etc.)
  • your mood and your feelings about doing physical activity (how did you feel during and after exercise)

The number of surveys you complete will vary based on your activity patterns.

After seven days, we will schedule a meeting to collect the equipment from you and ask you to fill out a final question sheet on what you thought about the study.

We hope to use this information to look at how physical activity changes based on things like who people are with, mood, and energy levels.

Eligibility

To be included in this study, you must be:

  • aged 60 years or above
  • able to read and speak fluent English
  • live in the South West of England
  • have an annual household income of less than £25,000 before taxes
  • be comfortable doing any level of physical activity (even if that’s just walking around your house)

Unfortunately, you would not be able to take part if you:

  • live in a care home, nursing home, or are in hospital
  • cannot stand or walk on your own
  • cannot see or use a smartphone (you do not need to own a smartphone as we can provide you with one, and you will get training on how to use it by the research team)
  • have been diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease by a physician or doctor
A large group of fit and active people doing exercise outside.

What you’ll get for taking part:

As a thank you for taking part in the study, you will also get a £20 shopping voucher.

The information that you and other participants provide will help us to learn about patterns of physical activity and how we might be able to support people to do more if they want to.

If you would like to see it, we will be happy to provide feedback on your physical activity levels and give you a summary of the results of the study.

A senior woman smiling.

Your data

All information about you will be stored using a unique ID code. All data collected during the study (including personal, identifiable data) will be treated as confidential and kept in a locked cabinet in a locked room or on a password-protected computer on the University of Bath’s secure server. The storage of this data will be in line with current UK data protection legislation.

Relevant ethics approval information

The study has been approved by the Biomedical Sciences Research Ethics Committee at the University of Bath [reference: 0001-298].

Contact us

If you want to take part in this study, or have any questions about our research, please contact Olivia Malkowski (lead researcher).