scholarly journals Effects of online group exercises for older adults on physical, psychological and social wellbeing: a randomized pilot trial

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcos Baez ◽  
Iman Khaghani Far ◽  
Francisco Ibarra ◽  
Michela Ferron ◽  
Daniele Didino ◽  
...  

BackgroundIntervention programs to promote physical activity in older adults, either in group or home settings, have shown equivalent health outcomes but different results when considering adherence. Group-based interventions seem to achieve higher participation in the long-term. However, there are many factors that can make of group exercises a challenging setting for older adults. A major one, due to the heterogeneity of this particular population, is the difference in the level of skills. In this paper we report on the physical, psychological and social wellbeing outcomes of a technology-based intervention that enable online group exercises in older adults with different levels of skills.MethodsA total of 37 older adults between 65 and 87 years old followed a personalized exercise program based on the OTAGO program for fall prevention, for a period of eight weeks. Participants could join online group exercises using a tablet-based application. Participants were assigned either to the Control group, representing the traditional individual home-based training program, or the Social group, representing the online group exercising. Pre- and post- measurements were taken to analyze the physical, psychological and social wellbeing outcomes.ResultsAfter the eight-weeks training program there were improvements in both the Social and Control groups in terms of physical outcomes, given the high level of adherence of both groups. Considering the baseline measures, however, the results suggest that while in the Control group fitter individuals tended to adhere more to the training, this was not the case for the Social group, where the initial level had no effect on adherence. For psychological outcomes there were improvements on both groups, regardless of the application used. There was no significant difference between groups in social wellbeing outcomes, both groups seeing a decrease in loneliness despite the presence of social features in the Social group. However, online social interactions have shown to be correlated to the decrease in loneliness in the Social group.ConclusionThe results indicate that technology-supported online group-exercising which conceals individual differences in physical skills is effective in motivating and enabling individuals who are less fit to train as much as fitter individuals. This not only indicates the feasibility of training togetherdespitedifferences in physical skills but also suggests that online exercise might reduce the effect of skills on adherence in a social context. However, results from this pilot are limited to a small sample size and therefore are not conclusive. Longer term interventions with more participants are instead recommended to assess impacts on wellbeing and behavior change.

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 103-116
Author(s):  
Seviye Neslitürk ◽  
Mehmet Engin Deniz

This research is planned on the purpose of investigation the effect of Mother Value Training Program (ADEP), which is provided to the mothers of children who attend kindergarten, to the social skills level of 5-6 years old children. In the study, pretest-posttest and experimental research design including the control and experimental groups was used; there were 24 children in each group. The Mother Value Training Program (ADEP) is applied to the mothers of children in the experimental group during 9-weeks. There are 18 sessions and the duration of each is 120 -150 minutes. For the collection of data, Social Skills Improvement System "SSİS" Parent Form was used.  As a result of the analyses, a significant difference was not observed in the control group. However, significantly increasing effect in the social skills related to the communication, cooperation, self-expression, responsibility, empathy, acting together with the group and self-control was observed in the experimental group children. In addition, as a result of the screening test, this effect was also observed in other social skills other than communication.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. e30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iman Khaghani Far ◽  
Michela Ferron ◽  
Francisco Ibarra ◽  
Marcos Baez ◽  
Stefano Tranquillini ◽  
...  

Background.Regular physical activity can substantially improve the physical wellbeing of older adults, preventing several chronic diseases and increasing cognitive performance and mood. However, research has shown that older adults are the most sedentary segment of society, spending much of their time seated or inactive. A variety of barriers make it difficult for older adults to maintain an active lifestyle, including logistical difficulties in going to a gym (for some adults, leaving home can be challenging), reduced functional abilities, and lack of motivation. In this paper, we report on the design and evaluation of Gymcentral. A training application running on tablet was designed to allow older adults to follow a personalized home-based exercise program while being remotely assisted by a coach. The objective of the study was to assess if a virtual gym that enables virtual presence and social interaction is more motivating for training than the same virtual gym without social interaction.Methods.A total of 37 adults aged between 65 and 87 years old (28 females and 9 males, mean age = 71, sd = 5.8) followed a personalized home-based strength and balance training plan for eight weeks. The participants performed the exercises autonomously at home using the Gymcentral application. Participants were assigned to two training groups: the Social group used an application with persuasive and social functionalities, while the Control group used a basic version of the service with no persuasive and social features. We further explored the effects of social facilitation, and in particular of virtual social presence, in user participation to training sessions. Outcome measures were adherence, persistence and co-presence rate.Results.Participants in the Social group attended significantly more exercise sessions than the Control group, providing evidence of a better engagement in the training program. Besides the focus on social persuasion measures, the study also confirms that a virtual gym service is effective for supporting individually tailored home-based physical training for older adults. The study also confirms that social facilitation tools motivate users to train together in a virtual fitness environment.Discussion.The study confirms that Gymcentral increases the participation of older adults in physical training compare to a similar version of the application without social and persuasive features. In addition, a significant increase in the co-presence of the Social group indicates that social presence motivates the participants to join training sessions at the same time with the other participants. These results are encouraging, as they motivate further research into using home-based training programs as an opportunity to stay physically and socially active, especially for those who for various reasons are bound to stay at home.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiangfei Hong ◽  
You Chen ◽  
Jijun Wang ◽  
Yuan Shen ◽  
Qingwei Li ◽  
...  

AbstractWorking memory (WM) is a fundamental cognitive function that typically declines with age. Previous studies have shown that targeted WM training has the potential to improve WM performance in older adults. In the present study, we investigated whether a multi-domain cognitive training program that was not designed to specifically target WM could improve the behavioral performance and affect the neural activity during WM retrieval in healthy older adults. We assigned healthy older participants (70–78 years old) from a local community into a training group who completed a 3-month multi-domain cognitive training and a control group who only attended health education lectures during the same period. Behavioral and electroencephalography (EEG) data were recorded from participants while performing an untrained delayed match or non-match to category task and a control task at a pre-training baseline session and a post-training follow-up session. Behaviorally, we found that participants in the training group showed a trend toward greater WM performance gains than participants in the control group. Event-related potential (ERP) results suggest that the task-related modulation of P3 during WM retrieval was significantly enhanced at the follow-up session compared with the baseline session, and importantly, this enhancement of P3 modulation was only significant in the training group. Furthermore, no training-related effects were observed for the P2 or N2 component during WM retrieval. These results suggest that the multi-domain cognitive training program that was not designed to specifically target WM is a promising approach to improve WM performance in older adults, and that training-related gains in performance are likely mediated by an enhanced modulation of P3 which might reflect the process of WM updating.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3.7) ◽  
pp. 293
Author(s):  
Kassim Mohar ◽  
Rahman Fariq

A vast amount of research has been performed illustrating that the execution of certain conditioning activities at maximal or near-maximal intensities can acutely enhance subsequent athletic performance with given sufficient recovery. This phenomenon is known as post-activation potentiation (PAP) and its use within the field of strength and conditioning has grown rapidly as performance enhancing effects have been demonstrated within athletic movements such as jumping and sprinting. Objective: The purpose of this study is to analyse the effectiveness of PAP training on sprint performance and power production among Malaysian female hockey player. Methods: A total of 18 well-trained athletes (age 25 ± 3.7; mass 54 ± 4.9; height 160.8 ± 2.8; relative strength half-squat 1.9 ± 0.3; relative strength hex-bar deadlift 1.7 ± 0.5; relative strength hang clean 0.8 ± 0.1) were tested for 20 meter sprint time and counter-movement jump (CMJ) test during the preparation phase. This study used two different groups such as experimental group (EG) and control group (CG) and each player were randomly assigned. Both groups were completed training in twice per week for a period of eight week training program. The EG performed a total of 16 session by having 2 different training blocks. Each block has a period practice of training for 4 weeks and each block also has different types of exercise. Meanwhile, CG completed 16 session based on coach training program and did not practice at the same time with the EG. The study intervention program including pre-test and post-test activities were conducted before and after the study. Result: A data analysis of paired t-test and independent t-test was used and the level of significance in all statistical analyses was set at p ≤ 0.05. The result showed that 8-weeks of EG displayed significantly improved in sprint performance (p ≤ 0.005) and power production (p ≤ 0.005). Moreover, result also revealed a significant difference between EG and CG in sprint performance (p ≤ 0.000) and power production (p ≤ 0.008). Conclusion: In short, the result emphasized the contribution of kinetic and kinematic parameters for sprint and power performance. The EG result seem significant for athletic performance. Therefore, this findings is of great practical interest for coaches and fitness trainers and relevant to female hockey players and consequently maybe used in training program.  


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1.SP) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Parviz DABAGHI ◽  
Seyyed-Javad HOSSEINI-SHOKOUH ◽  
Reza SHAHRABADI

Background and objective:    Drug abuse is one of the diseases that are highly dependent on individual behaviors and social interactions. This disease can be created in places like military garrisons due to their relationship with such behaviors. Therefore, soldiers and staffs are at risk of drug abuse. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of prevention training program of drug abuse on reducing risk factors in soldiers and staffs in Iran.Methods:In this quasi-experimental interventional study, 392 soldiers and staffs in two military garrisons in Khorasan Razavi (Intervention group 242 and control group 150) were randomly conducted to training program. The data collection tools were questionnaire of identifying people in risk of addiction, life skills questionnaire and demographic variables. The questionnaires were completed as self-report. Educational content was consisted of seven training sessions (60-minute) that only applied in the intervention group. 45 days after the last training session, educational software was distributed as a reminder in the intervention group. The two groups were followed up three months after the intervention. Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.Results:  The findings showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups in demographic variables (Pvalue>0.05). The mean scores for risk factors on drug abuse after training program (Depression and feeling of inability, Positive attitude toward drug abuse and Anxiety and fearing of others) were significantly improved in the intervention group (Pvalue<0.05). Also, life skills variables except the problem solving skill (Pvalue>0.05) had a significant change after intervention in the intervention group (Pvalue<0.05).Conclusion:The findings indicated that the prevention training program of drug abuse based on life skills training could reduce the risk factors of drug abuse for soldiers and staffs in military garrisons.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-82
Author(s):  
Widyo Subagyo ◽  
Dyah Wahyuningsih ◽  
Mukhadiono Mukhadiono

This study aimed to determine the effect of the development of horticultural therapy to improve the social skills of mental disorders patients in the community. This research's method is quantitative research with a pre-posttest queasy experimental research design with a control group. The study results the social skills score before and after treatment in the intervention group given horticultural therapy was marked with a p-value of 0.01 (<0.05). In conclusion, there is a significant difference in the mean difference in social skills scores between the intervention and control groups.   Keywords: Mental Disorders, Social Skills, Horticultural Therapy


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoru Takano ◽  
Kohei Yamaguchi ◽  
Kazuharu Nakagawa ◽  
Kanako Yoshimi ◽  
Ayako Nakane ◽  
...  

Abstract Maintaining oral function is important in older individuals with missing teeth for leading a healthy and independent life. This study aimed to evaluate whether simple isometric exercises can maintain and improve oral function (maximum occlusal force [MOF], masticatory ability [MA]) and masticatory muscle properties (masseter muscle thickness [MMT] and echo intensity [MMEI]) in older adults in the maintenance phase of removable prosthetic treatment. Participants were randomly allocated into intervention and control groups. The intervention group was instructed to perform maximum clenching for 10 s, whereas the control group was instructed to tap the teeth at an arbitrary speed for 10 s. Both were repeated five times at an interval of 5 s between each activity and twice a day for 4 weeks. The outcomes were measured after a month of exercise. The intervention group showed significant improvement in MOF, MMT during contraction, and MMEI during contraction. There was no significant difference in the MA and MMEI at rest. In the control group, no improvement was observed in any of the parameters. When the isometric exercises were performed using a mouthpiece, there was improvement in oral function and masseter muscle properties in older individuals with Eichner B status who used dentures.


2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. S-59-S-72
Author(s):  
Heather Kanenberg ◽  
Susan Mapp ◽  
Rustin Dudley ◽  
Margaret McFarland

Previous literature has established an improvement in student attitudes toward older adults after a service- learning experience with this population. This study furthered the research by conducting a mixed- method comparison group study with a sample of 151 traditional- aged BSW students. Both groups increased in positive perceptions toward older adults on the Polizzi's (2003) refined Aging Semantic Differential Scale, and there was no significant difference between them. Qualitative results specific to those working with seniors suggest that students either improved or maintained positive attitudes toward this population. Therefore service learning may not need to be specific to this population to improve attitudes but does assist in reinforcing classroom material. Findings illustrate a need for further study of the overall impact of the social work curriculum as well as possible cultural shifts in attitudes toward older adults.


1994 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edgar F. Pierce ◽  
Donald W. Pate

Limited research indicates positive affective change following acute bouts of exercise, but whether this improved affect among younger subjects may be generalized to older individuals is not known. The present study, then, examined the effects of a single bout of physical activity among older participants. 16 trained women ( Moge = 64.5 ± 7.6 yr.) completed an abbreviated Profile of Mood States prior to and immediately following a 75-min. session of aerobic line dancing. A series of one-way analyses of variance with repeated measures were used to examine differences between pre- and posttest subscores on mood states. Significant decreases following exercise in scores on Tension, Depression, Fatigue, and Anger and a significant increase in scores on Vigor relative to preexercise (control) scores were found. Global mood was significantly improved after the exercise session. No significant difference was found between pre- and postexercise measures of Confusion. Previous findings of significant improvements in affect immediately after an acute bout of exercise may be generalized to older adults. Repetition with a nonexercised control group is desirable.


2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zarife Seçer ◽  
Hülya Gülay Ogelman

AbstractThe aim of this research was to establish the effect of a social problem-solving training program for 8th grade students. In the experimental group, 14 students were 14 years old and 1 student was 15 years old. In the control group, 13 students were 14 years old and 2 students were 15 years old. The Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) was administered to the students. The students in the experimental group were trained in the Social Problem-Solving program at school. The students in the Social Problem-Solving Training Program had statistically significant lower scores on physical aggression, anger, hostility, indirect aggression and total aggression than the students who did not undertake the program.


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