Rates of physical activity participation by older people have not returned to their pre-COVID levels. This combined with current barriers to physical activity (e.g. time, cost and travel) demonstrate the need to continue supporting older people to be active at home. To update the website to reflect the post-pandemic environment, we conducted an online survey to evaluate website use, user perceptions, identify areas for improvement.
We conducted an online REDCap survey of Safe Exercise at Home users which included people from the community (older people and people accessing the website on behalf of an older person), and health professionals. Recruitment occurred via a banner on the website, and was promoted through social media (Facebook, LinkedIn and X), newsletters and webpages associated with the research team. The survey asked participants about their website usage, and feedback on website navigation, content, and what could be improved.
This project was approved by The University of Melbourne Human Research Ethics (Project ID 23233). Forty-two participants completed the survey (n=32 community; n=12 health professionals). Eighty percent of participants from the community were aged 65 years or over, 67% female, and 22% had accessed the website 2-5 times. Sixty-seven percent of health professionals were physiotherapists, 75% female, 92% worked with older people, and 54% had accessed the website 2 or more times. Across both groups, users indicated the website was easy to navigate (84% community; 91% health professionals), contained clear and easy to understand content (90% community; 82% health professionals), and most users (84% community; 91% health professionals) rated their overall experience as ≥7/10 . Sixty-six percent of community participants said the website motivated them, and 31% said they had increased their time spent being active. Participants indicated they would like to see more exercise videos, examples of exercises, fall prevention information, and latest research and evidence-based guidelines.
The Safe Exercise at Home website is positively viewed, by both older people and health professionals, and is a useful resource to support older people being physically active at home. Older people indicated that the website encouraged them to be more active, although further evaluation using objective measures of physical activity is required. Survey findings will inform future changes to the website to reflect a post-pandemic environment.
Consumer-informed changes to the website will potentially increase usability and relevance for future users.
Technology
Older people
