Background
As the world population continues to age [
1], it becomes increasingly important to maintain physical, cognitive, and social competencies among older adults. Indeed, the older people demographic has become a critical target for public health interventions [
2]. In this regard, regular physical activity (PA) provides a range of health benefits for older adults. For instance, it is known to reduce the risk of developing heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers [
3]. Further, accumulated evidence specifically shows the health benefits of regular PA for older adults [
4], and many guidelines now promote PA for seniors [
5,
6]. However, PA participation remains low among older adults in many nations, including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom [
7]. Studies have also shown that community-wide PA interventions have stronger effects on behavioral change compared to individually tailored interventions [
8,
9]. Our previous work on community-wide physical activity showed that more adults in the intervention group were aware of PA guidelines than those in the control group at baseline [
10]. Further, effective community-wide programs can encourage regular PA among all community members while increasing levels of social engagement [
11].
On the other hand, Baker et al. found no consistent evidence to support the effectiveness of multi-component community-wide interventions designed to increase populational levels of PA. Further, a number of related problems were identified [
12]. Still, research has found that some strategies aimed at facilitating PA may improve the reach and effectiveness of interventions at the community level. For instance, this includes interventions that involve existing community groups and/or community spokespersons [
13]. Meanwhile, other research has emphasized that older people can maintain health by achieving social capital through social engagement via activities such as group exercise [
14]. Furthermore, our previous work have already found that older adults can achieve balanced health in the physical, mental, and social domains through regular group exercises as part of a community-wide PA intervention, which also contributed to community expansion through social connectedness and mutual support [
15]. Leaders within the senior-citizen community thus play essential roles in generating social capital. However, the essential elements and styles needed for such leadership have not yet been elucidated.
This study explored the roles and attitudes of senior leaders in promoting group-based community PA at senior clubs in Fujisawa-city, Kanagawa, Japan, specifically to examine whether those efforts facilitated social participation among the older people.
Discussion
Many societies are continuing to age throughout the world. This makes civic participation and engagement an area of increasing importance, with many countries reexamining their approaches to dealing with aging [
19,
20]. While civic engagement is widely accepted and discussed as part of a conceptual framework for increasing social capital, little research has attempted to identify the phenomena related to the roles of social capital, social cohesion, and social engagement [
21]. As such, this study focused on group-based communitywide exercise programs in order to examine the pivotal roles that senior group leaders played in health promotion and whether their efforts enhanced social participation among the older people.
Senior club leaders typically establish a vision. For instance, this may include “becoming the number one place in Japan for healthy longevity,” or simply “promoting healthy longevity.” In this regard, leadership ability is demonstrated through consistent attitudes/convictions toward achieving these visions. Leaders must have firm convictions about the need to achieve healthy longevity in their communities rather than simply aiming to maintain their own personal health. Publicly shared visions thus become basic principles for leadership actions. Further, such leadership is voluntary. This is important because individuals are more motivated to volunteer based on expressions of humanitarian value and thus more likely to engage [
22]. When leaders proclaim their visions, as mentioned above, they become core group values. These values are then reinforced by older adults who volunteer, thus generating human, social, and cultural capital [
23].
Participants said that consistent and unwavering beliefs and attitudes helped to establish group cohesion; as such, the refusal to give up was pivotal for sustaining club activities. Because group activities were run on a volunteer basis, leaders felt that the abandonment of a leadership role could lead to group decline and club closure. Further, participants were from the “Baby Boom” generation (i.e., born after World War II), and had thus been responsible for postwar rebuilding efforts, thus establishing the most rapid period of economic growth in Japanese history. We can therefore assume that these individuals shared the common principles of perseverance, endurance, and unwavering belief. In turn, this helped them overcome hardships.
In terms of leadership style, most participants did not provide one-on-one exercise instruction to members, but instead demonstrated movements in front of whole classes. In this way, they humbly served as models and guides. Leaders are thus positive role models who increase participation by instilling effectiveness and confidence in members while providing guidance for appropriate behavior [
24,
25]. At the same time, participants sometimes found it difficult to motivate participants to exercise. In this regard, the importance of assistants and subleaders became clear; these individuals shared responsibilities and discussed issues with the club leaders. Leaders and their assistants therefore established strong bonds by sharing responsibilities, which then increased group effectiveness through the implementation of mutually promoted and coordinated activities. Indeed, shared responsibility and group commitment can be associated with success [
26].
Participants also learned from cases in which nearby senior clubs failed to retain members and finally suspended club activities. In this regard, they delegated certain roles and responsibilities to club members, thus providing opportunities for independent and voluntary engagement without creating heavy burdens. Participants recognized that they could specifically delegate roles based on the personal traits, abilities, and deficiencies of members.
Further, great efforts were made to build group cohesion by maintaining appropriate connections with members. This also required consideration of their individual personal traits, abilities, and deficiencies. In other words, cohesion was maximized when members recognized shared characteristics. This was achieved by focusing on veterans and delivering interventions at community sites, where members were likely to share geographical commonalities [
26]. Furthermore, the leaders made efforts to develop programs that can continuously capture the interests of participants. For example, in addition to physical activity (Plus 10), they introduced recreational activities such as table tennis and traditional Japanese card games. These activities not only entertained the participants but also provided challenges that allowed participants to experience personal growth. The evolving, dynamic nature of this program is key for its success.
Leaders built and maintained cohesion by expecting participants to engage in independent activities (i.e., avoiding passive attitudes), thereby achieving social engagement through delegated responsibilities and maintaining balance. This empowered individuals to become group members. For older persons, empowerment can stem from mutual support systems in which group members promote efficacy, mastery, and control despite the presence of ageist structural barriers [
27]. Leaders ensured that group efficacy increased by understanding the abilities and deficiencies of club members while establishing appropriate levels of support and balance. In turn, this increased the likelihood of group empowerment and social action, both of which carry over to individual members by providing a sense of ownership in overall group success [
28].
Participants knew that great efforts were required to maintain and promote health among club members. This required not only ensuring that the older people received support from younger people, but that they also received mutual support from their peers. Participants also established active groups comprised of members with diverse background and ages by meeting with local citizens and striving to both learn from and teach them while achieving mutual understanding. Participants thus saw group evolution through expressions of ideas, opinions, emotions, and feelings, which were evident in their interactions, trust levels, and shared confidence [
29]. In this regard, leaders gained a sense of efficacy and empowerment by positively shaping the societal view of older adults. At the same time, leaders felt that their groups created “experiential confidence,” or a common experience of success. This continued to serve as a platform for confidence when setting and achieving goals [
28]. Leader B said:
“To fully consider the problem of populational decline in the local community and the deterioration of physical function among the older people, we introduced information and communication technology into local communities. We want to take on the new challenge of adapting to changing societal needs rather than simply maintaining the status quo” (B).
Various leadership styles are adopted among entities such as businesses, governments, healthcare organizations, and communities. This study found that servant leadership was predominant among senior leaders of group-based communitywide physical exercise programs. Servant leadership has been defined as “a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world” [
30‐
33]. Other researchers have identified the seven servant leadership behaviors of conceptualizing, emotional healing, putting followers first, helping followers grow and succeed, behaving ethically, empowering, and creating value for the community [
34]. Here, conceptualization refers to an individual’s ability to act as a visionary for their organization, thus providing a clear sense of its goals and directions [
33]. This study’s participants exhibited these behaviors, thereby demonstrating servant leadership when organizing physical exercise activities in their communities.
Limitations
This study had several limitations. First, the study sample was small. Further, selection bias may have occurred due to purposeful sampling, while the themes produced may have been influenced by the imbalanced proportions of male and female participants (12 and 3, respectively). In our study, we did not collect detailed background social history of participants, including past leadership experience and duration, their past job, and whether they had any relevant work experiences in the physical activity area. This information may aid in the interpretation of the leaders’ experiences. Finally, this study was conducted in Japan, a country with large aging population. Thus, the attitude and responses of older individuals may differ from those of older individuals in other countries. This may limit generalizability of our findings.
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