Community Program of Physical Activity for Older Adults of the Rafaelito Popular Council

Its Effect on Depression, Subjective Well-Being and Physical Condition

Abstract

The study was guided to evaluate the effect of a Community Program sustained in the systematic practice of physical activities in the improvement of the levels of the depression, subjective well-being and the adults' physical condition bigger than the District #23 of the Popular Council Rafaelito in the municipality Cumanayagua. The methodological procedure that it was used in the study belongs to quasi-experimental design with pre and search treatment and for it one worked with a bigger population of 70 adults, a representative sample of 59 fellows was chosen, of them 36 are women and 23 man with ages understood between the 60 and 75 years. Were used as investigation methods the surveys and questionnaires; the depression was measured applying the Yesavage Geriatric Depression Scale and the subjective well-being starting from the Observed Emotion Rating Scale of Lawton. Starting from there a community program was designed, in function of the particularities of the investigated group and applied during a period of 18 weeks, with appropriate participation levels and attendance on the part of the implied adults. The results determined in the depression levels and subjective well-being significant differences were appreciated among the members of the analyzed group obtaining values after having applied the program between 0.03 and 0.00 and in the physical condition in the case of the abdominal ones exceeds the critical value (tcrítica=2.35), with a 0.001 of probability, as for the balance, the agility, and the flexibility is obtained a 0.05 of probability (tcrítica=1.65).