Details:

Alternative Title:
Prev Chronic Dis
Publisher's site:
http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd12.150027
Personal Author:
Farren, Laura ; Belza, Basia ; Allen, Peg ; Brolliar, Sarah ; Brown, David R. ; ... More +
Farren, Laura ; Belza, Basia ; Allen, Peg ; Brolliar, Sarah ; Brown, David R. ; Cormier, Marc L. ; Janicek, Sarah ; Jones, Dina L. ; King, Diane K. ; Marquez, David X. ; Rosenberg, Dori E. Less -
Description:
Introduction

Walking is a preferred and recommended physical activity for middle-aged and older adults, but many barriers exist, including concerns about safety (ie, personal security), falling, and inclement weather. Mall walking programs may overcome these barriers. The purpose of this study was to summarize the evidence on the health-related value of mall walking and mall walking programs.

Methods

We conducted a scoping review of the literature to determine the features, environments, and benefits of mall walking programs using the RE-AIM framework (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance). The inclusion criteria were articles that involved adults aged 45 years or older who walked in indoor or outdoor shopping malls. Exclusion criteria were articles that used malls as laboratory settings or focused on the mechanics of walking. We included published research studies, dissertations, theses, conference abstracts, syntheses, nonresearch articles, theoretical papers, editorials, reports, policy briefs, standards and guidelines, and nonresearch conference abstracts and proposals. Websites and articles written in a language other than English were excluded.

Results

We located 254 articles on mall walking; 32 articles met our inclusion criteria. We found that malls provided safe, accessible, and affordable exercise environments for middle-aged and older adults. Programmatic features such as program leaders, blood pressure checks, and warm-up exercises facilitated participation. Individual benefits of mall walking programs included improvements in physical, social, and emotional well-being. Limited transportation to the mall was a barrier to participation.

Conclusion

We found the potential for mall walking programs to be implemented in various communities as a health promotion measure. However, the research on mall walking programs is limited and has weak study designs. More rigorous research is needed to define best practices for mall walking programs’ reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance.


Subject:
[+]
Adult
Aged
Commerce
Comparative Effectiveness Research
Diffusion Of Innovation
Environment Design
Female
Health Behavior
Health Promotion
Health Services Research
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Models, Organizational
Program Evaluation
Quality Of Life
Systematic Review
Walking

Source:
Prev Chronic Dis. 12.
Pubmed ID:
26270743
Pubmed Central ID:
PMC4552141
Document Type:
Journal Article
Collection(s):
Preventing Chronic Disease
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:2c6b4d90951d01233dc0e0f4e8438691a23836d387a3aa4d025c0391b2292bbe
File Type:

Supporting Files

• 	license.txt	txt
  	PCD-12-E129.nxml	txt
  	PCD-12-E129s01.gif	gif
  	PCD-12-E129s01.jpg	jpeg

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