An active daily life with safe mobility

Development of a proactive model to promote health and delay frailty in older people. The research explores older people’s everyday activities and movement patterns, and how these relate to frailty and health. The aim is to enable healthcare services to identify needs earlier and offer support before difficulties become more substantial.

Being active in everyday life and moving around safely are central to healthy ageing. Frailty can affect both engagement in activities and mobility, with consequences for health and wellbeing. Older people need support early in the ageing process to take proactive steps and remain active.

There is therefore a pressing need to develop sustainable models for proactive preventive and rehabilitative interventions that promote older people’s health. Methods used to collect data on older people’s functioning are often limited to identifying those with more substantial impairments. New, more detailed methods are needed to proactively screen for and assess different trajectories and determinants of healthy ageing. These methods can then be incorporated into routine healthcare practice to enable more targeted interventions at the right time.

Data collection

The research takes a broad perspective on the factors that may contribute to restrictions in activity and mobility as people age. The model is being developed in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, drawing on findings from studies involving older people. Our interdisciplinary collaboration brings together expertise that enables us to achieve the greater precision needed to promote older people’s health.

Data have been collected from 174 older people in Norrbotten and are currently being analysed to address several research questions. Scientific articles are in preparation. The findings are being discussed with service providers, professionals and older people to develop practical ideas for putting this knowledge to use in society.

Project duration and funding

The project runs from 2024 to 2027. It originated from seed funding provided by PRECISE, which enabled the development of research funding applications. The research subsequently received funding fromThe graduate school Personcentred and Integrated Care and the Kamprad Family Foundation.