PROGETTO RIMA

The problem of population aging is one of the most relevant for the health system. In fact, the increase in life expectancy is certainly a goal of contemporary societies, but the elderly are also generally more fragile and frequently need medical care, with consequent costs for the public health system. Active healthy aging thus becomes a fundamental objective for improving the quality of life, also in view of the cost savings that would be achieved if the population were "educated" in aging with programs aimed at promoting positive experiences, awareness and empowerment in population. The most recent contributions in the literature propose a "pro-active" approach in which the meeting between the elderly and the healthcare facility takes place before the individual's fragility becomes explicit, in such a way as to prevent the discomfort of a possible disease (Ippoliti et al., 2018a). One of the tools that ASL TO4 uses to promote healthy and active aging is AFA, Adapted Physical Activity, a protocol of non-medical anaerobic exercises to be performed in a group, specially designed for elderly subjects suffering from chronic diseases and aimed at modifying of lifestyle for the primary and tertiary prevention of disability. The experimental phase of the research foresees the involvement of 120 new users (over 64 sedentary with chronicity affecting the musculoskeletal system in the non-acute phase) who will be randomly divided into a group of treated (60) and a control group (60). The treated subjects will be given an AFA course provided by UISP for a period of 15 months, while the controls will be subjected to a placebo treatment of health education (information meetings conducted by ASLTO4). At the end of the project, the AFA course will also be offered free of charge for controls.