Models teòrics i programació d’activitat física en l’envelliment

Ageing is a personal, multidimensional and constant change process that happens throughout our life. With age, our organism experiences changes in the different systems, which represent its decline. Physical activity is decisive to minimize the progressive loss of functionality. For this reason, the elderly are recommended to engage in it. When designing and developing these activities, we have to take into account the person’s biolo·gical state, recommendations of prescription for physical exercise, and barriers and factors of success of these interventions in this age group. At present, there is a large heterogeneity of programmes that coexist in different spaces, with different user profiles and fading on many occasions as regards their origins. In Catalonia, physical activities for the elderly have experienced a fast evolution in the last few years, thus becoming an important instrument to be considered by those professionals in charge of health policies. In this article, we will revise the benefits of physical activity in the ageing process, describe the most representative practice models for the elderly in the chronological order of their appearance in Catalonia, and finally summarize the most important aspects to be taken into account when programming this kind of practice.