Rise of pensioner playgrounds target health of over 65s

Pensioner playgrounds have been springing up in cities across the world as part of a growing trend to keep the planet’s ageing populations healthy - and the UK is no different.

For years, doctors have been telling their older patients to do regular, light exercise especially those suffering from heart conditions, diabetes and obesity.

But many people over the age of 60, do not want to join fitness clubs, perhaps because they haven’t grown up with modern-style gyms or feel excluded by the atmosphere of competitive training or the sight of younger, fitter bodies.

Relaxed, non-competitive atmosphere

Outdoor fitness play areas specially designed for older people offer a relaxed, non-competitive atmosphere where everyone using the equipment is also over 60.

In comfortable shoes and casual, loose clothing, pensioners can be seen engaged in gentle exercise at specifically-designed playgrounds for the elderly in the UK.

Such playgrounds have been installed at Dam Head Park in Manchester, Heathfield Recreation Ground in Whitton and Hampton Common in Richmond.

The play area installed into Dam Head Park in Blackley, Manchester is a project initiated by the Dam Head Residents Association. Inspired by facilities for older people in Germany, the residents association took their ideas to the council's parks department.

With a lack of facilities locally for older residents, two years of consultation with residents and research led to the opening of the playground in 2008.

There are six pieces of fitness equipment offering low impact exercise and the play area has regular users of all ages.

Joan Fitzgerald, chair of the residents association believes one of the reasons for the pensioner playground's success is down to the location of the equipment within the park.

The site is adjacent to the children’s play area and so is available for parents, grandparents and carers to use whilst their children play.

London’s Hyde Park also has a playground for older people with six different types of exercise equipment to improve their core strength, flexibility and balance.

Located by Hyde Park Bowls and Tennis Centre, the park is currently open from 10am to 4pm at this time of year.

The Knightsbridge Association first approached The Royal Parks to request an Older People’s Play area in Hyde Park for Knightsbridge and Belgravia residents. It was funded by Westminster City Council and the Knightsbridge Association.

But it is not always elderly residents themselves pushing for more playgrounds. At Heathfield Recreation ground in Whitton, a company called Fresh Air Fitness approached Richmond Borough Council to trial older peoples play equipment in two public green spaces within the borough.

The company supplied outdoor fitness equipment and offered to install the equipment to test strength, usage and wear.

A website page was set up for the public to download exercise sheets. A notice board was put up amongst the fitness equipment to offer health advice and suggest work outs. Both play areas proved popular with older people, prompting the council to decide to buy the equipment to make it a permanent fixture.

'If you make it playful, people will enjoy themselves'

Pensioner playgrounds originate in China. IThe most common demographic in China's parks are large groups of pensioners.

Every morning, elderly people head for the parks for their daily exercise routine. Many use exercise equipment for light cardio workouts and gentle strength training.

In the 1990s, China prepared for the 2008 summer Olympic Games and also first built outdoor gym-like playgrounds for the elderly as part of a government health initiative for the nation.

Japan followed suit in 2004 with a pensioners' playground in Tokyo. In 2006, Europe got its first pensioner playground in Finland in 2006. North America had its first playground in 2007.

US firm, Must Have Play designs playgrounds specifically for older people. Its president Michael Cohen said: “If you make it playful, people will enjoy themselves. It won’t feel like a workout, and they’ll want to come back”.

Last July, Toronto got its own playground for the elderly in Godstone Park after residents were asked to come up with ideas for the community and vote on their favourite.

Professor Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, a professor of urban planning at University of California Los Angeles has studied park use by elderly people in different countries.

She says park location, design and amenities most influence the use of outdoor equipment by older people.

The playgrounds must actually feel like fun and trigger a willingness amongst older people to engage in such outdoor playgrounds.

The exact location of the playground for older people at London's Hyde Park was picked because of its close proximity to roads and public transport which are only an 15 minutes’ walk away. While playgrounds for older people are growing in popularity around the world, time will tell how successful they are.

Over six million physically inactive Brits over 55

The UK's physical activity guidelines recommend older adults participate in at least 150 minutes a week of moderate intensity activity (30 minutes a day, five days a week).

There are over six million physically inactive people over the age of 55 in England, according to research by Sport England in 2016.

Exercises such as cycling, dancing in social settings and swimming are the most mentioned activities amongst older people, according to British Heart Foundation research in 2017.

The European Union is currently carrying out a study on older people's fitness and playgrounds, as part of an EU project aimed at boosting exercise among the elderly.

How to boost health and wellbeing may be serious issues for countries with ageing populations but with playgrounds for the old popping up in England, it's worth reflecting on George Bernard Shaw's words:

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing”.