Investigating Adherence to an Online Qigong Program for Older Adults Living Within the Community.

Qigong Plus (QGP) is a 12-week digital Qigong program for older adults living within the community. The program consists of two components for delivering Qigong: (1) Once per week, one-hour online Qigong group classes guided in realtime by a qualified Qigong instructor, and (2) Supplementary pre-recorded 15 - 30min instructor guided QIgong videos provided to participants every week for self-practice. The weekly live sessions will be delivered online via Microsoft TEAMS videoconfernecing platform to participants utilising their personal devices (e.g mobile phones, tablets, computers, etc.).For the offline Qigong recordings, participants are provided access to the web-based exercise prescription platform, Physitrack, where they will recieve weekly Qigong programs for self-practice at the start of every week with the exception of the first week, whereby the Qigong recordings are only provided after participants have attended their first online session. Program attendance tracking: The target attendance for program completion will be 9 out of 12 sessions (75%) for participants regarding the online QGP component. There are no specific targets for self-practice, but participants are recommended to engage in at least 15-30mins of self-practice at least twice a week, gradually increasing their frequency of practice to three times a week by the end of the 12-week program. Online session attendance will be manually recorded by the QGP instructor. Offline self-practice sessions will be tracked by (1) The Physitrack platform automated user tracking, and (2) Self-recorded by participants in the form of exercise journals, and (3) Manually indicating the amount of exercises completed when prompted on Physitrack after the completion of each self-practice session QGP Session structure: The physical activity component of QGP will be primarily in the form of Qigong exercises, which are generally considered to be low-intensity and well-tolerated amongst older adults. Thus, the exercise intensity for the QGP program will be considered low - moderate for older adults. In addition, the QGP program is designed to allow participants to practice in sitting or standing positions - allowing for participants to opt for sitting practice if they percieve the training intensity to be too difficult. Participants are also encouraged to provide feedback regarding the training intensity for the QGP instructor to adjust the program accordingly. The QGP instructor will record such feedback from participants for the research team's reference. Offline session structure follows the general structure of the online sessions albeit shorter in duration (15 - 30mins). Please refer to the following example of a 60min QGP online session structure: Arrivals & Greetings - 5mins Warm-up exercises (i.e dynamic stretching exercises such as neck and shoulder rotations, etc.)- 15mins Breath and Chi regulation exercises (e.g exercises include "Lotus Flower Opening", "Two hands hold up the heaven", "Cloud hands", "The Archer Draws the Bow", "Circling the Moon", "Parting the Wild Horse's Mane".) - 15-20mins Cool Down exercises -5-10mins Mindfulness exercises - 10mins At the start of the program, participants will be provided some educational materials (i.e an infographics, introductory video, etc.) e on topics such as personal health, the importance of exercise, habit building tips and information about the practice of QIgong. Educational materials are self-developed by the research team and be delivered via Physitrack, personal email, mobile text messaging. Participants can access program materials through their provided email, text messages, or through a participant handbook provided during the initial QGP program orientation session. Procedures: Participants will be recruited within Australia. The QGP program will take place primarily online. The QGP live sessions and offline recordings will be led by a Qualified QIgong master instrutor experienced in the delivery of online and offline Qigong programs. Once a week, for 12 weeks, participants will attend an online group Qigong session led by the Qigong instructor. Participants will attend an online orientation session one week before QGP program commencement via Microsoft TEAMs, where they will meet with the Qigong instructor and a member of the research team. The orientation session will introduce participants to the program, and help them familirise the digital mediums used in the QGP program. Subsequently, each QGP online session will be 60-minutes, consisting of 45-minutes Qigong practice, followed by 15-minutes of meditation for self-awareness and reflection. Qigong exercises include but are not limited to Lotus Flower Opening", "Two hands hold up the heaven", "Cloud hands", "The Archer Draws the Bow", "Circling the Moon", "Parting the Wild Horse's Mane". Qigong exercises may also be adapted to better suit older adults (e.g minimising Qigong stances that require balancing on a single foot, etc.) In addition, participants are delivered guided Qigong recordings at the start of every week during the QGP program. The Qigong recordings follow a similar format to the live delivery sessions and will include similar exercises that participants have completed with the Qigong instructir, albeit vary in session duration, as participants may select their prefered duration of self-practice. Furthermore, educational materials are delivered to participants digitally (e.g email, text messaging, Physitrack messaging, etc.) at the start of every week for the purpose of building the participant's understanding for the importance of regular physical activity in promoting healthy ageing.