The Finnish population ages as baby boomers reach retirement age and as people live longer. By the year 2060 almost a third of the population is over 65 years old. The changes this ageing brings must be dealt with both on the national and on the individual level. The growth of the ageing population raises the costs of social and health services.

The changes that occur during ageing often manifest themselves first in functional ability and daily activities. As a human being ages, muscle power and pace decreases as muscle tissue diminishes, stamina decreases as the body’s oxygen intake lowers and even balance declines as the co-operation of regulatory systems weakens. The decline of functional ability starts to make it difficult to cope at home and with daily activities. Even a slight increase in physical activity benefits an inactive elderly person. The decrease of general functional ability is partially caused by physical inactivity. People who are physically active are healthier and consider themselves as healthier. Exercise recommendations directed at elderly people both guide and encourage them to take care of their health.

This thesis examines the functional ability of the elderly people living in Espoo who participated in the Seniorit liikkeelle (Seniors on the move) event as measured by functional tests. This thesis also seeks correlations between the functional tests and compares the results with the results of Terveys 2000 and 2011 (Health 2000 and 2011) studies. The 262 elderly people who participated in the study had good functional ability for their age and reached better results on average compared to the reference values of the functional tests. Hand grip strength correlates strongly with lower limb strength and appears to be a good estimate of the muscle strength of the whole body. Compared to the results of Terveys 2000 and 2011 studies, the participants of Seniorit liikkeelle event had better functional ability than the population of the same age.

The people who participated in the event were in good shape physically, as was expected. The primary goal in the future would be getting the inactive on the move and measuring their functional ability as well. It might be worthwhile to take the functional tests to the elderly people and not the other way around.