Influencia de un programa de actividad física sobre aspectos físicos y psicológicos en personas de mas de 55 años en la población del Algarve.

by Martín Rodríguez, Marta

ABSTRACT In this study we have, as a final goal, to evaluate the physical situation (strength, flexibility and balance) and psychological (self-esteem and satisfaction with life) of the population, with the objective of developing a physical training program that will fit any individual in this particular situation. The objective is to evaluate the influence of a physical program in a normal situation during a five month period in a particular elder population located in the province of Algarve. The sample will be constituted by 425 subjects (68 men and 357 women) and in the control group we selected 81 subjects (12 men and 69 women) also from the Algarve that didnt practice any kind of sport. For the study we used the Self Esteem Scale elaborated by Morris Rosenberg (1965) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) from, Emmons, Larson y Griffin (1985). To evaluate the physical form of the subjects we used the Development and validation of a functional Fitness test for comunita-residing older adults de Rikli & Jones (1999). After analysing the results, we can say that, in general it is a benefit for the population to participate in a physical activity program with these characteristics. The participation of the women gender is higher in a social level compared with the male gender in these types of activities. The self-esteem in spite of being above average is slightly higher in the active group and there is also an improvement in the satisfaction with life in this group, therefore, the physical activity produces positive effects in the satisfaction with life but we couldnt find any difference between the groups, probably because it is in a high level at both groups. We can say that the contents of the physical sessions and the teachers who monitor the classes can be a variable in the study to take in consideration, taken in consideration that the sessions produce an improvement in a general way. Finely, we can observe a improvement in elder subjects wile younger ones show a very low improvement in both psychological and in the flexibility of the leg. At the end we can conclude that, in a genera way it is positive to the population to participate in a program with this characteristics.