None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
This pilot study will trial a personalised 12-week home-based physical activity intervention, using ICT, to help middle aged and older people who experience memory concerns and troubles with low mood, anxiety or stress to meet Australian physical activity guidelines.
Interventions
This pilot study will investigate the feasibility and acceptability of a pragmatic intervention of person-centred, home-based physical activity (PA) programs to assist middle-to-older-aged people with mild cognitive and mental health concerns to adopt age-appropriate Australian PA guidelines. Specifically, participants will be concerned about their cognitive health but will not have dementia and report mild-to-moderate depressive and/or anxiety symptoms.
The intervention will include a 12-week,
This pilot study will investigate the feasibility and acceptability of a pragmatic intervention of person-centred, home-based physical activity (PA) programs to assist middle-to-older-aged people with mild cognitive and mental health concerns to adopt age-appropriate Australian PA guidelines. Specifically, participants will be concerned about their cognitive health but will not have dementia and report mild-to-moderate depressive and/or anxiety symptoms. The intervention will include a 12-week, home based, personalised PA program delivered via information and communication technology (Zoom video or phone calls, emails and PDF resources, and online REDCap surveys). Based on participants' health, abilities and skills at baseline, they will be assigned into a PA program that best suits them. They will be placed in one of two streams (either 45-59 years or 60-80 years), and assigned an ability level of either starter or intermediate for aerobic and strength programs, and those aged 60-80 years will also be given a starter balance program with further options. All programs will be tailored by a researcher with expertise in exercise science to participants' skill and ability level, however will generally work towards participants undertaking 150 mins of moderate aerobic PA (~30 mins sessions), strength activities on 2 or more days per week, and balance activities as often as they can (for older adults only). Aerobic programs will be walking or cycling programs with a scheduled progression of increasing minutes and intensity. Strength programs will include circuits of resistance exercises, e.g. bicep curls, with increasing difficulty, repetitions and load over the 12 weeks. Balance programs will include a variety of exercises, e.g. sit to stand, to incorporate as often as possible. Participants will also be provided with an Activity Tracker, dumbbells, and/or resistance bands (appropriate to their level and wants) to motivate and assist them in completing their PA programs. Prior to starting their PA program, participants will receive a 60-minute Zoom call with a trained Research Assistant to explain their program. They will then be provided with a PA package including a general PA guide with information about the PA guidelines, safety and tips, their individual aerobic, strength and/or balance programs, warm-up and cool-down guides, a PA diary and extra resources including videos of the exercises. The PA programs, guides, videos, and diaries were designed specifically for this study. The PA guidelines are readily available online. The same Research Assistant will follow the participant throughout the 12 weeks in fortnightly catch-up sessions (5-20 mins each) over Zoom. The sessions will be flexible and based on the participant's needs, and include questions about how the participant is finding the program, whether there are any barriers that they need to work through, and general safety questions. These questions are intended to support and encourage the participant with education and behaviour change strategies to progress successfully. The participant's PA diary will also be reviewed in these sessions to monitor adherence.
Sponsors
The University of Melbourne
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Primary purpose
Treatment
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
45 Years to 80 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
• Aged between 45 and 80 years • Living in the community • Report concerns about cognition (by responding ‘Yes’ to the question ‘Do you think your memory or thinking (also called cognitive health) has changed' and 'Do you think your memory or thinking (also called cognitive health) is worse than other people your age?'), with or without scoring greater than or equal to 28 and less than or equal to 31 on TICS-M [indicative of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)]). • Non demented, as indicated by a score of 28 or above on the TICS-M (Bentvelzen et al., 2019; Knopman et al. 2010) • Demonstrating mild to moderate stress, depressive and/or anxiety symptoms on the depression anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21) • Capacity to provide informed consent • Access to a phone and/or internet
Exclusion criteria
• Unable to provide informed consent • Unable to read or write • Inadequate English skills to participate • Diagnosed dementia or TICS-M score less than or equal to 27 (indicative of dementia) • Scores in the severe range on the DASS-21 greater than 20 (Depression), greater than 14(Anxiety), greater than 25(Stress) (indicative of severe depressive and/or anxiety symptoms) • Significant acute mental illness (including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, severe depression, eating disorder) or a past history of these disorders • Current suicidality and/or history of suicide attempts within the last 2 years • Alcohol use of greater than 28 standard drinks per week • Any significant medical condition preventing participation in a moderate intensity PA program as disclosed by participants in the APSS, PAR-Q and general health screening questions • Significant uncorrected sensory impairment preventing participation • Living in residential aged care • Severe mobility impairment, measured as inability to walk unaided (walking stick for safety acceptable) or a FRAT score of greater than 11 (medium-high risk) (Stapleton et al., 2009) • BMI indicating they are underweight (less than 18.5) or very obese (greater than or equal to 38). Where appropriate, ethnicity-adjusted BMI indicators will be used (e.g. WHO expert consultation, 2004).
Outcome results
None listed