Qigong Plus: Feasibility of delivering Qigong online to address social connection and wellbeing for the vulnerable in our community

Qigong Plus (QGP) is a 6-week digital Qigong program for older adults living within the community. The program consisted of delivering an online group Qigong session once per week for one-hour guided in realtime by a qualified Qigong instructor. The weekly live sessions were delivered online via ZOOM videoconferencing platform to participants utilising their personal devices (e.g mobile phones, tablets, computers, etc.). After each week, participants were also given access to the ZOOM recordings of the Qigong practice for self-practice. Program attendance tracking: The target attendance for program completion was 5 out of 6 online Qigong Plus sessions. Online session attendance was manually recorded by the QGP instructor. Participants were also encouraged to journal their self-practice frequency outside of the online Qigong Plus sessions. QGP Session structure: The physical activity component of QGP was 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 was considered low - moderate for older adults. In addition, the QGP program was designed to allow participants to practice in sitting or standing positions - allowing for participants to opt for sitting practice if they perceived the training intensity to be too difficult. Participants were also encouraged to provide feedback regarding the training intensity for the QGP instructor to adjust the program accordingly. 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 Procedures: Participants were recruited within Australia. The QGP program took place primarily online. The QGP sessions were led by a Qualified Qigong master instructor experienced in the delivery of online and in-person Qigong programs. Once a week, for 6 weeks, participants attended an online group Qigong session led by the Qigong instructor. Participants also attended a 30-minute online orientation session one week before QGP program commencement via ZOOM, where they met with the Qigong instructor. The orientation session introduced participants to the program and helped them familirise themselves with the procedures for participating in the QGP program. Subsequently, each QGP online session was 60-minutes, consisting of 45-minutes Qigong practice, followed by 15-minutes of meditation for self-awareness and reflection. Examples of Qigong exercises included were “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 were also adapted to better suit older adults (e.g minimising Qigong stances that require balancing on a single foot, etc.) In addition, participants were given access to ZOOM recordings of the Qigong sessions. The Qigong recordings were edited to focus on the program delivery of the Qigong instructor and removed the screens of the participants. Access to each session recording was only provided after completion of the respective weekly session.