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Falls and injuries related to falls are one of the most common health problems among older people and are becoming increasingly more frequent. Regular exercise has been identified as one of the most effective fall-prevention activities for older people; however, awareness of the impact of exercise programmes and adherence to recommended exercise among the elderly population is generally low. Research examining how an exercise programme is administered to and experienced by elderly community-dwelling people is needed.

The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate the feasibility, experiences and effects of and adherence to the fall-preventive Otago Exercise Programme (OEP) with or without motivational interviewing (MI) among community-dwelling people aged 75 years or older.

Four studies were performed from October 2012 to May 2016 in a sample of 175 people. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used. The methods included the feasibility for conducting a randomized controlled trial (RCT) (I), individual face-to-face interviews (II), an RCT (III) and a prospective cohort study (IV). The intervention was given to two groups. The participants who received OEP with or without MI were compared with a control group that received standard care.

The feasibility of performing an exercise intervention with or without MI was acceptable from the perspective of the participating physiotherapists. From the perspective of the older participants performing the exercise with behavioural change support, the inclusion of monitored exercises in everyday life and daily routines was important. The participants also expressed experiencing more strength, improved physical functioning and greater hope for an extended active life during old age.

From the short-term perspective, there were significant improvements within the OEP combined with MI group in terms of physical performance, fall self-efficacy, activity level, and handgrip strength. Improved physical performance and fall self-efficacy were also found within the control group; however, corresponding differences did not occur in the OEP group without MI. There were no significant differences between the study groups after 12 weeks of regular exercise. Adherence to the exercises in the pooled exercise group was 81% at the 12-week follow-up.

At the 52-week follow-up, the behavioural factors being physically active and obtaining behavioural support in terms of MI had a significant association with adherence to the exercise programme.

These studies provide some support for the combination of OEP with MI as the addition of MI was valuable for achieving adherence to the exercise programme over time in older community-dwelling people.