Influence of Exercise Environment on Attentional Awareness and Emotional Changes Among Elderly

Abstract

Introduction: Emotional wellbeing in the elderly is an essential track of the quality of life. The progress of any intervention for the elderly depends on mood characteristics and attention related to cognitive health which spirals further accordingly. In residential aged care and retired home-dwelling elderly attention and mood effect varies with individual and situation from time to time. Objective: To explore the effects of exercise environment on Positive / Negative mood effect & Attention awareness among elderly without mobility limitation on Indoor versus Outdoor environment. Methods: 102 literate elderly participants within the age group of 65 75 years sedentary and independent were recruited from the general public of Karad, Satara district of Maharashtra. Research environment setting: Outdoor environment was grassland with partly interspersed with trees. The indoor environment is a paved path within the walls or building pathways and not expose to greenery. Measures: Baseline and Posttest measures after 8 weeks adaptation to the exercise environment using PANAS questionnaire to record the scores of positive and negative mood effect and Mindful attention awareness scale (MAAS) to record attention awareness. The participants were made to undergo dual-task activity exercises and mindful walking in their prescribed environment during the 8 weeks of the adaptation period. Results: The Pretest and Posttest measures have been analyzed and found that the outdoor environment has a significant influence on positive mood effect and improved attention awareness in the elderly. Conclusion: Emotional wellbeing won’t work upon compulsion and it has to be explored to reach pleasantness.