{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,23]],"date-time":"2026-02-23T22:25:09Z","timestamp":1771885509850,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,3]],"date-time":"2021-06-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1622678400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Geriatrics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Over 80% of adults in the US fail to meet the \u2265150 min weekly physical activity guideline; 40% age \u2265 75 are entirely inactive. The study purpose was to understand the reasons why community-dwelling older adults (age \u2265 60) from diverse backgrounds increase, sustain, or decline in their physical activity levels over time. Sixty-two older adults were interviewed. Two-thirds of the African Americans, 57% of the Afro-Caribbeans, and 50% of the European Americans reported being less active than 2\u20133 years ago. Reasons for activity decline included health issues (e.g., pain, shortness of breath), lack of time, interest, or motivation. Reasons for sustaining or increasing activity levels included meeting personal goals, having a purpose for remaining active, or feeling better when active (e.g., it is important to keep moving, good for the joints, going on a cruise). Themes identified were pride in maintaining activity, goal-driven activity, pushing oneself to get past pain or fatigue, and some confusion between social and physical activity in participant reports. The results indicate widespread acceptance that activity is beneficial, but that knowledge alone was insufficient to maintain activity levels over time unless individuals had a goal or purpose (\u201cmeans to an end\u201d) and could overcome their physical and psychological barriers to physical activity.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/geriatrics6020057","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,3]],"date-time":"2021-06-03T21:03:32Z","timestamp":1622754212000},"page":"57","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Sustaining or Declining Physical Activity: Reports from an Ethnically Diverse Sample of Older Adults"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"6","author":[{"given":"Ruth","family":"Tappen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road NU-84, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1011-5077","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Edgar Ramos","family":"Vieira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th St, AHC3-430, Miami, FL 33199, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sareen S.","family":"Gropper","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road NU-84, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Newman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road NU-84, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Cassandre","family":"Horne","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road NU-84, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"1","article-title":"Physical fitness in institutionalized older adults with dementia: Association with cognition, functional capacity and quality of life","volume":"11","author":"Sampaio","year":"2020","journal-title":"Aging Clin. Exp. Res."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"World Health Organization (WHO) (2021, May 12). Physical Activity\u2014Key Facts. 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