PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF WALKING FOOTBALL IN PEOPLE AGED 60 TO 80 YEARS OLDPhD dissertation by Mélanie Boithias

Supervisors:  Alain BELLI (LIBM, Saint-Etienne), Emma GUILLET (L-ViS, Lyon), William VALLAS (Loire Football District)

Financing : CIFRE scholarship (Loire Football District)

In a context where the population is aging, it is important to organize the healthy aging of our elders. Indeed, advancing age is inevitably accompanied by functional decline whcih an lead to becoming dependent. The dependency of the elderly has a financial cost but also an emotional impact for those around them who see one of their loved ones losing some of their abilities.

Physical activity is a wonderful tool to combat sedentary lifestyles and reduce functional decline as we age. It is widely demonstrated in the scientific literature that seniors who train make progress.

This is how walking football developed, the main objective being to promote physical activity and encourage social connections among people over 50. Very widespread in England and the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland), walking football has been the subject of some scientific work and from a physiological point of view, and is a practice which is not considered to be too demanding for seniors. On a psychological level, it is a practice perceived as rewarding and fun.

Curious to know more about the real effects of walking football on the health of seniors, the objective of my dissertation research is to evaluate the physiological and psychological effects of walking football in people aged 60 to 80 years old.

Contract duration: 10/2022 to 10/2025