scholarly journals The health impact of an innovative summer camp for older adults: a pilot study using an interdisciplinary collaborative approach

BMC Nursing ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei-Hua Yeh ◽  
Cheng-Hsien Huang ◽  
Yu-Chih Lin ◽  
Tung-Jung Huang ◽  
Mei-Yen Chen
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Summer Camp ◽  
Lifestyle Changes ◽  
Collaborative Approach ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health Related Fitness

Abstract Background Healthy aging with dignity and aging in place are important for Taiwanese individuals. Although Taiwan did not experience COVID-19 outbreaks prior to May 2021, many older adults have been encouraged to stay at home since the beginning of the global pandemic in January 2020. Such shelter-in-place recommendations have resulted in significant lifestyle changes, limiting activities associated with aging with dignity such as exercise and community engagement. Few studies have explored how to promote or maintain holistic health practices and physical fitness in older adults residing in rural communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This pilot study aimed to establish an interdisciplinary collaboration with community care workers (CCWs) and evaluate the impact of an innovative summer camp (ISC) program for older adults residing in rural areas. Methods A quasi-experimental pre-post-test design with an interdisciplinary collaborative approach was implemented. The ISC program was based on a standardized protocol of modified Baduanjin exercise combined with three recreational breathing games. Participants were recruited from three community centers around the western coastal region of Yunlin County between June and August 2020. The ISC program was designed and executed by a nurse-led health promotion research team that collaborated with trained CCWs for 90 min per day, five days per week, for 12 weeks. Participants and CCWs wore facemasks during all activities. Paired t-test was used to measure changes in physical biomarkers, pulmonary lung function, and health-related fitness changes. Results Sixty-eight participants completed the ISC program. The ISC program significantly improved the participants’ physiological biomarkers and health-related fitness, including reduced body weight, waistline, and systolic blood pressure, and increased forced vital capacity, biceps arm flexion, and ability to sit and stand from a chair, step with a knee up in situ, and stand on one foot with eyes open. Most participants reported that they felt happy, satisfied, and hoped that this program would be continued in their community center. Conclusions This interdisciplinary, collaborative ISC program improved physical biomarkers and health-related fitness in older adults. Despite limitations, results strongly suggested that primary healthcare providers and CCWs can employ the described ISC program to promote wellness in older adults.

scholarly journals The Impact of An Innovative Summer Camp for Community Older Adults

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei-Hua Yeh ◽  
Cheng-Hsien Huang ◽  
Yu-Chih Lin ◽  
Tung-Jung Huang ◽  
Mei-Yen Chen
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Community Care ◽  
Summer Camp ◽  
Holistic Health ◽  
Routine Activity ◽  
Community Center ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health Related Fitness

Abstract Background Healthy aging with dignity and aging in place are important concepts for most Taiwanese individuals, which can hopefully affect health policies. However, many elders have been encouraged to stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic since January 2020. Consequently, most elders limited their social participation in a previous regular activity in the community center, which undermined the strategies for healthy aging. Few studies have explored how to promote or maintain holistic health and physical fitness for community elders during the COVID-19 worldwide. Therefore, this study aimed to establish and evaluate the impact of an innovative summer camp program for older adults in the rural community. Methods A quasi-experimental pre-post-test design was used. The innovative summer camp (ISC) was based on a standardized protocol of modified Baduanjin exercise combined with three recreation breathing games. Participants were recruited from three community centers around the western coastal Yunlin County between June and August 2020. ISC program was designed and demonstrated by the research team and conducted by each community care worker for 90 minutes per day, five days per week, for 12 weeks. The paired t-test was used to measure the physical biomarkers, pulmonary lung function, and health-related fitness changes. Results Sixty-eight participants completed this study. The findings indicated that the ISC program significantly improved elderly individuals’ physiological biomarkers and health-related fitness, including reduced body weight, waistline, systolic blood pressure, and increased forced vital capacity, biceps arm flexion, sit and stand from a chair, step with a knee up in situ, and stand on one foot with eyes open. Besides wearing a facemask during the activity, almost all participants reported that they felt happy, satisfied and hoped that this program can be continued in their community center. Conclusion This pilot study supported the finding that a three-month ISC program can improve physical biomarkers and health-related fitness. The results strongly suggested that community care workers can employ the proposed ISC program as routine activity for community elders.

scholarly journals The Impact of a Telehealth Intervention on Activity Profiles in Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Study

Geriatrics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 68
Author(s):  
Nathaniel Johnson ◽  
Adam Bradley ◽  
Lukus Klawitter ◽  
Jane Johnson ◽  
Lance Johnson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Vigorous Physical Activity ◽  
Computer Time ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Telehealth Intervention ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Impact

Background: Physical inactivity during the COVID-19 pandemic is a public health concern for older adults. Telehealth presents a safe platform for conducting health-related interventions that may have additional benefits such as widespread reach. Our pilot study sought to examine how a telehealth intervention changed activity profiles in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: There were n = 13 adults aged 70.6 ± 4.5 years that participated in a 6 week telehealth intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic. The didactic intervention contents were shared online, and participants worked with trained interviewers over the telephone to discuss physical activity. At baseline and post-intervention, the Multimedia Activity Recall for Children and Adults examined activity profiles, while accelerometry estimated time spent sedentary and in physical activity. Results: Relative to the baseline measures, there was an 88 min/day (95% confidence interval (CI): 39, 137) increase in computer time and 36 min/day (CI: 10, 62) reduction in time spent in active transport at post-intervention. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity participation also increased by an estimated 2 min/day (CI: −21, 26) and 12 min/week (CI: −154, 180), but this trend was not statistically significant. Conclusion: We recommend that support be provided to older adults transitioning to telehealth, especially as migration to telehealth progresses.

scholarly journals GENDER-SPECIFIC APPROACHES TO HEALTHY AGING WITH HIV

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S764-S764
Author(s):  
Tonya N Taylor ◽  
Ruth Finkelstein
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Successful Aging ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Geriatric Conditions ◽  
Significant Burden ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Gender Specific Differences ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Gender Specific

Abstract Older adults with HIV (OAH) evidence a significant burden of disease, characterized by high frequencies of non-HIV related comorbidities that result in multimorbidity and polypharmacy decades earlier than non-HIV infected older adults. Commonly observed comorbidities among OAH 50 years and older include cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis, and cancers. Geriatric conditions such as frailty, functional impairment, chronic inflammation, and cognitive dysfunction are also prevalent. Poverty, unemployment, housing, and food insecurity, as well as stigma-driven discrimination, persistent social isolation and high rates of depression, can make health-related challenges associated with aging overwhelming, resulting in a diminished capacity for self-care. Older men and women with HIV; however, are aging differently due to gender-specific differences in comorbidity profiles, polypharmacy burden, social networks, and intersectional stigmas (HIV/AIDS, ageism, racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, and transphobia). This symposium explores the impact of gender on healthy aging among OAH. Dr. Brennan-Ing and colleagues describe specific strategies for achieving healthy aging among female OAH in NYC and Oakland, CA. Dr. Rubtsova and colleagues explore multiple meanings of “successful aging” among older women in Atlanta and Brooklyn, and the role of resilience that empowers them as long-term HIV survivors. Dr. Taylor qualitatively examines the impact of biopsychosocial factors on notions of “Healthy HIV Aging” among older gay, bisexual and heterosexual men with HIV. Dr. Ruth Finkelstein will discuss the public health implications for developing equitable and gender-specific and intersectional HIV prevention and wellness interventions and suggest future areas of inquiry to improve HIV outcomes across the care continuum.

Assessment of incident frailty hazard associated with depressive symptoms in a Taiwanese longitudinal study

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Che-Chia Chang ◽  
Chi-Shin Wu ◽  
Han-Yun Tseng ◽  
Chun-Yi Lee ◽  
I-Chien Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Asian Population ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Frailty Status ◽  
Health Need ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT Objectives: To estimate the risks of depressive symptoms for developing frailty, accounting for baseline robust or pre-frailty status. Design: An incident cohort study design. Setting: Community dwellers aged 55 years and above from urban and rural areas in seven regions in Taiwan. Participants: A total of 2,717 participants from the Healthy Aging Longitudinal Study in Taiwan (HALST) were included. Subjects with frailty at baseline were excluded. The average follow-up period was 5.9 years. Measurements: Depressive symptoms were measured by the 20-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale. Frailty was assessed using the Fried frailty measurement. Participants were stratified by baseline robust or pre-frailty status to reduce the confounding effects of the shared criteria between depressive symptoms and frailty. Overall and stratified survival analyses were conducted to assess risks of developing frailty as a result of baseline depressive symptoms. Results: One hundred individuals (3.7%) had depressive symptoms at baseline. Twenty-seven individuals (27.0%) with depressive symptoms developed frailty, whereas only 305 out of the 2,617 participants (11.7%) without depressive symptoms developed frailty during the follow-up period. After adjusting for covariates, depressive symptoms were associated with a 2.6-fold (95% CI 1.6, 4.2) increased hazard of incident frailty. The patterns of increased hazard were also observed when further stratified by baseline robust or pre-frailty status. Conclusions: Depressive symptoms increased the risk of developing frailty among the older Asian population. The impact of late-life depressive symptoms on physical health was notable. These findings also replicated results from Western populations. Future policies on geriatric public health need to focus more on treatment and intervention against geriatric depressive symptoms to prevent incident frailty among older population.

scholarly journals Children’s Weight Gain and Cardiovascular Fitness Loss over the Summer

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 2770 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Brusseau ◽  
Ryan Burns
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Physical Activity Intervention ◽  
Cardiovascular Fitness ◽  
The Body ◽  
School Year ◽  
School Based ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Physical Activity Programming ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health Related Fitness

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of summer breaks on the body composition and cardiovascular fitness of elementary school children who participated in a multi-year school-based physical activity intervention. Participants were 404 children who had their height and weight measured and completed the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) during physical education classes at the beginning and end of the school year for three consecutive years. To examine the effects of time on health-related fitness data, general linear mixed effects models were employed. The results indicate that there was a trend toward an increase in body mass index (BMI) after the summer of 2015 (p = 0.958), and a significant increase in BMI after the summer of 2016 compared to time point 1 (p < 0.001). For PACER laps, there were trends toward decreases in PACER laps after the summers of 2015 (p = 0.515) and 2016 (p = 0.073). Summer breaks tended to attenuate the BMI and PACER lap improvements that were observed during the intervention. While school-based physical activity programming has had some successes in improving health-related fitness markers, the loss of these improvements over the summer is of concern to both practitioners and researchers. It is clear that additional efforts are needed to limit obesogenic behaviors during the summer months.

Determining the Long-Term Effectiveness of a Group-Based Physical Activity Program

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-408
Author(s):  
Anamica Batra ◽  
Richard C. Palmer ◽  
Elena Bastida ◽  
H. Virginia McCoy ◽  
Hafiz M. R. Khan
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Population Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
South Florida ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Evidence Based Programs ◽  
The Impact

Objective. In 2015, only half (48%) of older adults in the United States (≥60 years) reported engaging in any kind of physical activity. Few studies examine the impact of evidence-based programs when adopted in community-based settings. The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of EnhanceFitness (EF) upto 12-months. Method. EF was offered to older adults in South Florida. A total of 222 EF classes were offered between October 2008 and December 2014. Program consisted of a 1-hour session held three times a week. Even though participation was required for 4 months, 1,295 participants continued the program for at least 1 year. Results. All participants showed significant improvement in outcome measures. A mean change of 1.5, 1.7, and 1.9 was seen in number of chair stands at 4, 8, and 12 months (p < .001), respectively. The number of arm curls performed improved from 16.8 at baseline to 18.8, 18.8, and 19.2 at 4-, 8-, and 12-months, respectively. Participants improved their up-and-go time by decreasing from 9.1 (baseline) to 8.7 (4 months) to 8.6 (12 months; p = .001). Discussion. Randomized controlled trials are commonly used to determine the efficacy of an intervention. These interventions when disseminated at the population level have the potential to benefit large masses. EF is currently offered at more than 700 locations. This tremendous success of EF brings attention to an important question of continuous monitoring of these programs to ensure program consistency and intended outcomes. The model used by the Healthy Aging Regional Collaborative could be replicated by other communities.

scholarly journals Impact of Seniors Centers on oral health-related quality of life of older adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Fernanda W. Machado Luz ◽  
Alexandre Emídio Ribeiro Silva ◽  
Ana Paula Perroni ◽  
Marília L. Goettems ◽  
Noéli Boscato
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Oral Health ◽  
Family Income ◽  
Health Related Quality ◽  
Clinical Factors ◽  
Related Quality ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Impact

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of older adults participating or not in Seniors Centers (SC). METHODS: Two independent samples were compared: older adults who participate in SC (n = 124) and older adults who visited Primary Healthcare Centers (PHC) and do not participate in SC (n = 164). The data collected consisted of sociodemographic (sex, age, educational level, marital status, family income) and psychosocial characteristics—Sense of Coherence (SOC), anxiety and depression using HADS, happiness—, and oral clinical evaluation—use and need of dental prosthesis and decayed (D), missing (M), or filled (F) teeth. The resulting OHRQoL was evaluated using the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14). The Mann-Whitney test was used to assess the associations between the independent variables and the OHIP-14. Poisson regression models were also used in the analyses (α=0.05). RESULTS: In the PHC, of the 270 individuals invited to participate in the study, 164 (60.7%) were interviewed and clinically examined; while in the SC, of the 166 individuals invited to participate in the study, 124 (74.7%) were interviewed and clinically examined. After adjustments for sociodemographic, psychosocial and clinical factors, we found that the impact on OHRQoL was 2.8 times higher (95%CI 2.0–4.2) for older adults who did not participate in SC. CONCLUSION: Older adults who participated in SC showed better perception on OHRQoL, independently of sociodemographic, psychosocial and clinical factors.

scholarly journals Socioeconomic status and survival among older adults with dementia and depression

2014 ◽  
Vol 204 (6) ◽  
pp. 436-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruoling Chen ◽  
Zhi Hu ◽  
Li Wei ◽  
Kenneth Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Low Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Late Life Depression ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Risk Of Mortality ◽  
The Impact

BackgroundPeople from lower socioeconomic groups have a higher risk of mortality. The impact of low socioeconomic status on survival among older adults with dementia and depression remains unclear.AimsTo investigate the association between socioeconomic status and mortality in people with dementia and late-life depression in China.MethodUsing Geriatric Mental Status – Automated Geriatric Examination for Computer Assisted Taxonomy (GMS-AGECAT) we interviewed 2978 people aged ⩾60 years in Anhui, China. We characterised baseline socioeconomic status and risk factors and diagnosed 223 people with dementia and 128 with depression. All-cause mortality was followed up over 5.6 years.ResultsIndividuals with dementia living in rural areas had a three times greater risk of mortality (multivariate adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 2.96, 95% CI 1.45–6.04) than those in urban areas, and for those with depression the HR was 4.15 (95% CI 1.59–10.83). There were similar mortality rates when comparing people with dementia with lowv.high levels of education, occupation and income, but individuals with depression with lowv.high levels had non-significant increases in mortality of 11%, 50% and 55% respectively.ConclusionsOlder adults with dementia and depression living in rural China had a significantly higher risk of mortality than urban counterparts. Interventions should be implemented in rural areas to tackle survival inequality in dementia and depression.

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