Objectives: The aims of this study were to implement a novel, community-based physical activity (PA) intervention in a Swiss town with active participation of elderly participants and to evaluate its effectiveness, feasibility, acceptability and sustainability.
Methods: The CAPACITY intervention combined important determinants of PA, used smartphone apps to provide feedback/facilitate interaction, and followed a citizen science approach to enable participants to organize walking groups. We targeted persons > 60 years from Wetzikon. Assessments took place at baseline and after 6 months, during this intervention period, and 11 months after step-wise withdrawal of the study team.
Results: Twenty-nine persons were included in the study; 25 conducted 6-month follow-up. They had a significant increase in moderate-to-vigorous PA (p = 0.046) but not in daily steps (p = 0.331). After the intervention period, key participants took over organization, independently organized monthly get-togethers, added new walking routes and continuously recruit new participants. Eleven months after withdrawal of the study team, 61 people regularly walk in groups together.
Conclusions: The novel CAPACITY intervention was successfully implemented, transferred to participants and is now self-sustainable for almost 1 year in the community.
Keywords: CAPACITY; Citizen science; Community; Elderly; Long-term sustainability; Physical activity; Walking intervention.