Leading the way together: a cluster randomised controlled trial of the 5R Shared Leadership Program in older adult walking groups.

BACKGROUND

With a rapidly ageing society, healthy ageing has become a key challenge. Engagement in physical activity, and particularly walking, is a key strategy that contributes to healthy ageing amongst older adults. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of a group walking program for older adults that incorporates the 5R Shared Leadership Program (5R). By implementing a structure of shared leadership and strengthening peer leaders' identity leadership, 5R aims to cultivate a shared social identity amongst participants, which has in other contexts been associated with greater performance and well-being.

METHODS

A cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted to test the efficacy of the 5R group walking program on group identification, group cohesion, walking activity, and well-being, compared to a regular group walking program for older adults. Nineteen older adult walking groups (i.e., the clusters; N = 503; M = 69.23 years, SD = 6.68) all participated in a 12-week structured group walking program. Nine walking groups (n = 304) were randomly assigned to the intervention in which participants received the 5R program in addition to regular group walking.

RESULTS

5R was successful in strengthening the identity leadership qualities of the appointed peer leaders. Multilevel regressions showed that 5R succeeded in increasing group cohesion and walking activity to a greater extent than a regular group walking program, while participants' group identification and well-being increased to a similar extent in both conditions. Furthermore, structural equation modelling revealed that group identification mediated the impact of peer leaders' identity leadership on group cohesion and well-being (but not walking activity).

CONCLUSION

By harnessing the capacity of the group and its peer leaders, the 5R program offers a promising intervention to engage older adults in physical activity.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The study was retrospectively registered as clinical trial on 9 September 2021 ( NCT05038423 ).