Frail Older Adults
Conditions
Brief summary
Malnutrition, risk of falls and medication incidents are commonly faced by the older adults. This study aimed to provide health education to community-dwelling older adults and to assess the effectiveness of a Healthy Living Program (HLP) to older adults in terms of fall prevention, drug management and healthy eating habits.
Detailed description
This was a single group pre-post trial. Participants aged 60 or above were recruited from the community elderly centres. A 6-week HLP, which included one 45 minutes weekly session, was offered to the participants. 122 participants were recruited. This study shows that the 6-week HLP has a potential to improve the physical well-being of the participants, and to increase their knowledge in diet, drug management and fall prevention.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALHealthy Living Programme
A 6-week Healthy Living Program (HLP) was developed and implemented for all the participants. There was one 45 minutes weekly session over 6 week. Week 1 & 2 focused on healthy eating habits including food pyramid, balanced diet for the elderly, food labels, healthy snacks and healthy eating out. Week 3 & 4 were about fall prevention, which included risk factors and complications of fall among older adults, preventive measures, strengthening exercises and aerobic dance. Week 5 & 6 focused on drug management, such as knowledge on commonly used drugs, drug storage, use of analgesics and non-pharmacological pain relief strategies. Interactive activities such as games, puzzles and question & answer session were included in the group education.
Sponsors
Pentecostal Church of Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
60 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* able to communicate and understand Cantonese * \> 1 in frailty score * members of the Pentecostal Church of Hong Kong
Exclusion criteria
* nil
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in subjective happiness level | Baseline, Week 6 | Measured by Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS), which consisted of 4 statements answered on a 7-point Likert scale. Scores for each statement range from 1 to 7 and the scores from the four statements were added, thus the possible range of scores on the SHS is 4 to 28. Higher scores reflect higher levels of subjective happiness. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in pain intensity | Baseline, Week 6 | Measured using the numerical rating scale, to assess the presence and intensity of pain among participants, which was presented with 0 referring to no pain and 10 referring to the worst pain imaginable |
| Change in Generalized pain self-efficacy beliefs | Baseline, Week 6 | Measured by the Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire. It consists of 10 statements, and participants were asked to rate their confidence in performing 10 activities or tasks despite experiencing pain, on a 7-point scale. |
| Change in functional mobility | Baseline, Week 6 | Measured by Timed Up and Go Test. The participants were required to walk a distance of three meters, turn, walk back to the chair and sit down. |
| Change in frailty status | Baseline, Week 6 | Measured by the FRAIL scale, which includes five items: fatigue, resistance, ambulation, illness, and loss of weight. The FRAIL scale ranges from 0-5, with a score of 0 regards as normal, 1-2 as pre-frail and 3-5 as frail. |
| Change in knowledge in healthy eating habits | Baseline, Week 6 | Measured by self-developed questionnaire. Range of score is 0-12, with higher score indicates having more knowledge. |
| Change in knowledge in drug management | Baseline, Week 6 | Measured by self-developed questionnaire. Range of score is 0-10, with higher score indicates having more knowledge. |
| Change in knowledge in fall prevention | Baseline, Week 6 | Measured by self-developed questionnaire. Range of score is 0-5, with higher score indicates having more knowledge. |
| Change in hand grip strength | Baseline, Week 6 | Measured using a dynamometer. Participants were seated with arms by the trunk, the elbow flexed to 90 and in a neutral position, and the wrist in slight extension. Participants were told to squeeze the dynamometer as hard as they could |
Outcome results
None listed