Walking Practice and Mental Health Change after Walking Program

Purpose: The purpose of this study examined the changes in participants' walking practice and mental health after conducting a walking education program. Method: This study is an quasi-experimental study and examined the changes in participants before and after the 8-week walking program. Subjects were recruited through the health center of the village under the public health center, and their walking practice and mental health were investigated before and after to check the changes in the participants. Of the total 219 participants, 181 responded to both the before-and-after surveys. The program was conducted from May to June in 2024, and the comparison was made on walking practices, elements for walking practices (attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, intention of walking, participation of walking), stress, feeling depression and loneliness in daily life. In statistical analysis, descriptive statistics, X2, paired t-test were performed using SPSS 23.0. Result: The number of walking practice days increased, and attitude to walking, subjunctive norms, and participation to walking were changed positively. Regarding to mental health, among the loneliness questionnaire, only one item which was ‘there are people who can help me with everyday matters’ were changed positively. Conclusion: Through this study, it was confirmed that even a short period of walking education can increase the walking practice days, but mental health in older people was difficult to change through exercise in a short period of time.