{"doi":"10.7717/peerj.20569","title":"Walking towards psychosocial well-being? Unveiling psychosocial impacts of a group-based walking program with and without cognitive enrichment in older adults—a mixed-methods randomized controlled trial","abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Evaluating the effects of a group-based cognitively enriched walking program (WALK+) and non-enriched walking program (WALK-only) on psychosocial well-being (as a secondary outcome) in community-dwelling older adults.</jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A six-month randomized controlled trial was conducted, comparing WALK+, WALK-only and a passive control group. WALK+ and WALK-only involved two supervised group-based, and minimum one unsupervised walking session per week. Questionnaires on depressive symptoms, positive well-being, loneliness and social support measured psychosocial well-being at baseline, mid-intervention and post-intervention. Effects on these outcomes were assessed using linear mixed models with random intercepts. Self-perceived changes in psychosocial well-being were assessed post-intervention through a questionnaire and focus groups. Descriptive statistics were used for the questionnaire, and an inductive qualitative content analysis was conducted on the focus group data.</jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>No significant intervention effects were found on depressive symptoms, positive well-being, loneliness and social support. Nevertheless, participants reported self-perceived improvements in psychological (40% of WALK+ and 56% of WALK-only participants) and social well-being (43% of WALK+ and 50% of WALK-only participants). The group sessions facilitated social connections, some lasting beyond the intervention period.</jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Although no intervention effects were observed using standardized questionnaires, improvements in self-perceived psychosocial well-being suggest potential psychosocial benefits of WALK+ and WALK-only for older adults.</jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>","journal":"PeerJ","year":2026,"id":612718,"datarank":0.16479184330021646,"base_score":1.0986122886681096,"endowment":1.0986122886681096,"self_citation_contribution":0.16479184330021646,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.16479184330021646,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":2,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1577752,"name":"Jannique G.Z. van Uffelen","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1577753,"name":"Julie Latomme","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1577754,"name":"Melanie Beeckman","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1577755,"name":"Stef Van Puyenbroeck","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":24238,"name":"Sebastien Chastin","orcid":"0000-0003-1421-9348","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":24235,"name":"Greet Cardon","orcid":"0000-0003-4983-6557","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1577751,"name":"Pauline Hotterbeex","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"Walking towards psychosocial well-being? Unveiling psychosocial impacts of a group-based walking program with and without cognitive enrichment in older adults—a mixed-methods randomized controlled trial","abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Evaluating the effects of a group-based cognitively enriched walking program (WALK+) and non-enriched walking program (WALK-only) on psychosocial well-being (as a secondary outcome) in community-dwelling older adults.</jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A six-month randomized controlled trial was conducted, comparing WALK+, WALK-only and a passive control group. WALK+ and WALK-only involved two supervised group-based, and minimum one unsupervised walking session per week. Questionnaires on depressive symptoms, positive well-being, loneliness and social support measured psychosocial well-being at baseline, mid-intervention and post-intervention. Effects on these outcomes were assessed using linear mixed models with random intercepts. Self-perceived changes in psychosocial well-being were assessed post-intervention through a questionnaire and focus groups. Descriptive statistics were used for the questionnaire, and an inductive qualitative content analysis was conducted on the focus group data.</jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>No significant intervention effects were found on depressive symptoms, positive well-being, loneliness and social support. Nevertheless, participants reported self-perceived improvements in psychological (40% of WALK+ and 56% of WALK-only participants) and social well-being (43% of WALK+ and 50% of WALK-only participants). The group sessions facilitated social connections, some lasting beyond the intervention period.</jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Although no intervention effects were observed using standardized questionnaires, improvements in self-perceived psychosocial well-being suggest potential psychosocial benefits of WALK+ and WALK-only for older adults.</jats:p>\n                  </jats:sec>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":1.0986122886681096,"endowment":1.0986122886681096,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"41589110","pmcid":"PMC12832057","openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W7125398924","authors":[],"funders":[{"funder_name":"Research Foundation Flanders","grant_id":"G009819N","title":null}],"total_grants":1,"fwci":38.6413,"citation_percentile":0.99298426,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[{"year":2026,"count":2}],"oa_status":"gold","license":"cc-by","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://peerj.com/articles/20569.pdf","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://peerj.com/articles/20569.pdf","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://peerj.com/articles/20569.xml","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://peerj.com/articles/20569.html","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.20569","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41589110","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://researchonline.gcu.ac.uk/en/publications/14c69e9c-8f13-4d67-a2fa-191152418f9a","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/01KGSEPGDAV5YHET31ZMNR1KEZ","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://doaj.org/article/e042e8b9d8b64d77bbace8ffbe020140","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12832057/","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://researchonline.gcu.ac.uk/ws/files/108888761/108866741.pdf","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC12832057","host_type":"Europe_PMC"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC12832057?pdf=render","host_type":"Europe_PMC"}],"fields_of_study":["Balance, Gait, and Falls Prevention","Health disparities and outcomes","Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research"],"mesh_terms":["Aged","Aged, 80 and over","Cognition","Depression","Female","Humans","Loneliness","Male","Surveys and Questionnaires","Social Support","Walking","Independent Living"],"keywords":["Psychosocial","Randomized controlled trial","Intervention (counseling)","Cognition","Cognitive behavioral therapy","intervention","Physical Activity","Older Adults","Mixed-methods","Group-based","Psychosocial Well-being","Cognitively Enriched Walking"],"sdg_mappings":[{"sdg_number":0,"sdg_label":"Reduced inequalities"}],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[{"name":"nct"},{"name":"doi"}],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-08-02T04:39:43.055952Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}