Men's matters-a health-enhancing physical activity intervention for men 50+A study on impact and acceptance

Background .Men who are 50+ are hardly reached by health-enhancing physical activity interventions. This is due, among other things, to different motives for exercise. The present study investigates the effect and acceptance of a men- and age-specific health-enhancing physical activity intervention. Methods. Physical and psychosocial health resources as well as well-being were examined in a controlled intervention period. In a noncontrolled follow-up period, qualitative interviews were used to analyze adherence to physical activity. Results. The Men's Matters program led to strong retention rates in the first period of the course as well as in the follow-up period. Most notable was the change in psychosocial healh resources. In addition to increasing self-efficacy and positive mood, well-being was increased. In the follow-up testing, all improvements were maintained above the level of the initial testing. Discussion. Consistent with previous findings, it was confirmed that a 90 min program can lead to measurable but nonsignificant improvements in physical health resources in people starting or returning to physical activity. Psychosocial health resources mood, self-efficacy, and well-being achieved significant increases comparable to other male-specific exercise interventions. Conclusion. In addition to the already successful offers specifically for men in the setting of professional sports clubs, the program Men's Matters was successfully designed and evaluated as a program in the community setting.