It's 'never too late' for older people to get active

With almost half of older people 'inactive', an Age UK conference will discuss ways to boost physical activity among our ageing population.

The need for increased physical exercise

Nearly half (45.3%) of people aged 65 or over in the UK are considered to be inactive. This is compared to 27.7% of the population as a whole.

Physical activity is a priority for Age UK in supporting older people to remain healthy and independent in later life. Over 130 local Age UKs deliver physical activity programmes which also help to reduce loneliness.

A report by leading researchers BritainThinks found older people with long term conditions knew their health would improve if they did more physical activity, but the majority found it difficult to see how they could actually achieve this.

It's never too late

The health and social care sector faces big challenges in providing exercise programmes: resources are stretched and more people in later life require support.

This is why Age UK is encouraging others to develop their own exercise programmes at its next conference, It's never too late. The event will:

• Explore the effect physical activity has on the ageing brain and mental wellbeing
• Include presentations from people who run physical activity programmes for people living with long term conditions, and those who have experienced the benefits of physical activity
• Evaluate the positive impact of Age UK programmes Inspire & include and Get going together have had on the health and well-being of older people.

Keynote speakers will include Prof James Goodwin (Chief Scientist for Age UK), Lindsay Games (Head of Disability at Sport England) and Dr Mike Brannan (Deputy National Lead for Adult Health and Wellbeing, Public Health England).

Pam Creaven, Services Director at Age UK, described the event as ‘an opportunity to share expert knowledge and increase our understanding of how we can help people exercise and exactly what service they need both to get started and to sustain their efforts into the longer term. There are huge potential gains to be made, not only for individuals but for the NHS too.'