Search

Shop

Donate

Your heartHealthy livingFor professionalsResearchHow you can helpAbout us
Central Park Community Centre, Hoppers Crossing | Andrew Pocket Park, Eltham

Active ageing via older adult-friendly outdoor spaces (ENJOY)

Blueprint for an Active Australia

/

Case studies

/

Active ageing via older adult-friendly outdoor spaces (ENJOY)

Background and rationale

The establishment of inclusive and accessible outdoor environments that provide opportunities for older adults to engage in physical activity and social interaction in their local communities is important for healthy ageing.1-3

The Exercise Intervention Outdoor Project in the Community (ENJOY®) Seniors Exercise Park program is an evidence-based initiative developed by the National Ageing Research Institute (NARI) to promote physical activity and social engagement among older adults through the use of purpose-built outdoor exercise equipment. The program aims to enhance physical function, mental well-being, and social connectedness in older adults.

The Seniors Exercise Parks consist of outdoor exercise equipment specifically designed for older people to improve strength, balance, joint movements and overall mobility and function. Working with local government, community organisations and other stakeholders, NARI have to date established over 25 Senior Exercise Parks across Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania.

Outcomes and impact

The ENJOY program, which included a 12-week supervised exercise regimen using Senior Exercise Parks followed by a 6-month maintenance phase involving independent use of the parks, resulted in significant improvements in physical activity, physical function, quality of life, falls risk, depressive symptoms and loneliness.4-6 Participation in ENJOY was also associated with a reduction in health care costs in the 6 months following the program.7 Across consecutive ENJOY research projects, there was a consistent and statistically significant increase in the number of older people visiting and engaging in physical activity at parks where Seniors Exercise Parks had been installed.8 The delivery of targeted community activation programs, implemented through a multi-level framework designed to build local capacity and partnerships, further increased park-based physical activity.8,9 Strong collaboration with local governments, community organisations, and trained community champions helped sustain engagement and long-term use of the parks, supporting ongoing benefits for healthy and active ageing.10,11 A social return on investment analysis further demonstrated that for every $1 invested in the Seniors Exercise Park program and its community activation framework, an estimated $2.50 in social value was generated, highlighting broader societal benefits across health, wellbeing, and participation.12

Investment and funding

The development of the Seniors Exercise Parks and research evaluations have been supported by contributions from philanthropy, competitive research grants and local government (Gandel Foundation, State Trustees Foundation of Australia, The Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing - Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) - Dementia, Ageing and Aged Care Mission - 2021 (ID 2015933)

Enablers and lessons learned

The Seniors Exercise Parks were specifically designed for older people, improving physical activity and addressing age-related declines in balance, strength, and mobility. This alignment between user needs and infrastructure design was critical for safety, engagement and effectiveness. Initial awareness and uptake of new Seniors Exercise Parks may be low, so initiatives to increase visibility and encourage participation are essential (e.g. social media promotion, and ‘come and try’ sessions led by champions or trained volunteers). To replicate this initiative, early engagement with stakeholders to support infrastructure and staffing, and co-design with end-users to ensure cultural and contextual appropriateness, is important.

https://www.nari.net.au/enjoy

https://www.nari.net.au/professor-pazit-levinger

  1. Levinger P, Mcconaghy R, Dreher B, et al. Recreational spaces: how best to design and cater for older people’s safe engagement in physical activity. Population Ageing. 2025;18:525–552.
  2. Chen S, Sun Y, Seo BK. The effects of public open space on older people's well-being: from neighborhood social cohesion to place dependence. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(23):16170. 
  3. Zhou W, Ong GP, Dai F. Understanding the role of perceived and physical environments in older adults’ physical activity: toward more inclusive and resilient cities. Sustainable Cities and Society. 2025;134:106954.
  4. Levinger P, Dunn J, Panisset M, et al. The ENJOY project – usage and factors to support adherence and physical activity participation. Translational Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine. 2021;6(3):1–6.
  5. Levinger P, Dunn J, Panisset MG, et al. The effect of the ENJOY Seniors Exercise Park physical activity program on falls in older people in the community: a prospective pre-post study design. J Nutr Health Aging. 2022;26(3):217–221.
  6. Levinger P, Panisset M, Dunn J, et al. Exercise interveNtion outdoor proJect in the cOmmunitY for older people – results from the ENJOY Seniors Exercise Park project translation research in the community. BMC Geriatrics. 2020;20(1):446.
  7. Brusco NK, Hill KD, Haines T, et al. Cost-effectiveness of the ENJOY Seniors Exercise Park for older people: a pre-post intervention study. J Phys Act Health. 2023;20(6):555–565.
  8. Levinger P, Fearn M, Dreher B, et al. IMProving older people’s health through physical ACTivity: the implementation of a community-based framework to promote park-based active ageing. BMC Public Health. 2025;25(1):4385.
  9. Levinger P, Dreher B, Soh S, Dow D, Batchelor F, Hill KD. Results from the ENJOY MAP for HEALTH: a quasi-experiment evaluating the impact of age-friendly outdoor exercise equipment to increase older people's park visitations and physical activity. BMC Public Health. 2024;24(1):1663.
  10. Levinger P, Dreher B, Fearn M, Hill KD. Successful implementation and sustainability of a physical activity health promotion approach utilising community peer-led training: case studies of two local governments in Victoria. Health Promot J Austr. 2025;36(2):e70005.
  11. Levinger P, Dunn J, Panisset M, et al. Challenges and lessons learnt from the ENJOY project: recommendations for future collaborative research implementation framework with local governments for improving the environment to promote physical activity for older people. BMC Public Health. 2021;21:1192.
  12. Brusco N, Fearn M, Hill K, et al. A social return on investment analysis of the ENJOY Seniors Exercise Park IMP-ACT project: IMProving older people’s health through physical ACTivity. BMC Geriatrics. 2026;26(1):572.

Last updated10 June 2026