Any kind of physical activity will for sure promote change in physical function. It could be just slight elevation of heart rate or decrease in leg oedema by activation of leg muscles for older people. Even short walk every day could produce meaningful results long term. I believe it would be easier to answer if You could specify the question. 60 minutes of physical activity just once, once daily, once a week? There are many articles showing drastic changes with as little as 60 minutes of physical activity per week but they focus on very high intensity activity which is not what You are interested in since You are talking about patients in recovery. 

Kind regards,

Jan Homolak

Hi,

I am not sure what your definition of physical function is, but Brooke Hasson has an article on prolonged sitting affects on insulin action in Metabolism , 2011 and Kate Lyden at the University of Colorada Anschutz Medical Campus would be a great person to get in tough with. I assume you already have the following article.

http://journals.lww.com/acsm-essr/Fulltext/2010/07000/Medical_Hazards_of_Prolonged_Sitting.1.aspx

Hope this helps.I don't think there is anything out there with exactly 60 minutes, but this should be a start.

 Thank you all for your insight! I apologize for not clarifying further, but this particular intervention would increase physical activity (low-moderate level) for 60 min per day. It is unique population in that patients will be recovering, post-hospitalization, in a rehabilitation setting and thus rely on staff compliance/training.  Further comments or resources are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Allison