Implications for practice
SESSION, TRANSITION
Enjoyment and social connectedness were key motivators for participation. Future interventions should promote enjoyable exercise and facilitate social interaction to foster a sense of relatedness by incorporating ice breaker activities and games into the exercise classes. Autonomy and competence were key factors in older adults’ motivation to participate in REACT. Session leaders delivering exercise programmes for older adults need to support the autonomy and competence of older adults by (a) using a person-centred delivery style (b) focusing on individual progress (c) adapting exercises to suit individual needs.Some session leaders used transition arrangements to expose participants to exercise opportunities independent of REACT. Transition arrangements, (e.g. providing information and introducing exercise sessions independent of REACT) may be a key strategy to boost competence and allow participants to build a menu of exercise options and avoid creating dependence on one exercise programme. REACT was a research programme with a predefined endpoint, whereas community programmes can be on-going, not requiring transition arrangements. Regardless, programmes should support people to build activity choices and facilitate ways to experience other activities within the organisation or within the community. Research shows that increased competence and relatedness experienced in one programme does not translate to sustained participation in other activities once that programme is gone [