Interventions to address exercise challenges in older people have been the focus of recent research, given the importance of exercise for health outcomes. However, exercise challenges for older adults with mobility disabilities have received little attention. We investigated participation of exercise among older adults with mobility disabilities to understand exercise barriers and challenges experienced by this population. We conducted a needs assessment using two archival datasets: a quantitative survey with 1,137 respondents and a qualitative in-depth interview with 23 participants. The quantitative evaluation revealed low participation of walking and less engagement of vigorous activities, and significant correlates of health status and lack of energy with vigorous activities. The in-depth interviews showed exercise challenges were attributed to difficulties with physical limitations, accessibility, and environmental limitations. Individuals with mobility disabilities may face unique challenges and barriers, affordable and effective supports to promote exercise engagement for them should be adapted to such needs.
Concerns about loneliness and social isolation for older adults were already evident but have been exacerbated during the pandemic. Home and Community Based Organizations (HCBOs) provide support for their older clients in the community and need to support their staff, who may be working remotely. We are exploring the potential of video chat technology to connect older adults with their friends, families, and other support. We review the technologies available to older adults in the community and staff working with older adults to promote social engagement. We are collaborating with OneClick.chat to identify the needs of the HCBOs through a literature review and qualitative interviews of staff members from different senior living environments. Their challenges and successes of engaging older adults through video chat technologies will provide guidance for design of an HCBO dashboard for OneClick.chat that will support diverse needs.
Social engagement is critical for maintaining well-being and quality of life in older adults. However, typical age-related changes across bio-psychosocial dimensions as well as age-related conditions such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI), pose many challenges for older adults to remain socially connected. The development of technologies, specifically video conferencing, can be leveraged as a tool to facilitate the delivery of social engagement opportunities, both enhancing access and minimizing social isolation. For successful adoption of these tools, the needs and preferences of older adult users must be considered. We employed an iterative research process for designing and developing a social-engagement intervention using a platform called OneClick.chat. We provide community-dwelling older adults with opportunities to engage in casual conversations and reminisce with others on topics of shared interests (e.g., nature, food, hobbies). Our iterative design process involved an interdisciplinary team of engineers, human factors specialists, gerontologists, and neuropsychologists. We also evaluated the system with eight participants (aged 50-64) who provided their insights pertaining to the content, delivery, perceived ease of use, usefulness, and potential adoption of this video-conferencing platform. Based on the feedback received, we have optimized the intervention in preparation for a randomized controlled trial. Furthermore, we provide key insights related to the implementation of social engagement through video technologies with the aim of facilitating social connectivity. Our learnings can be used to guide future work involving video-technology-based interventions to facilitate social connectivity for older adults with varying cognitive abilities.
With the rapid demographic changes, it is predicted that every fifth person in the U.S. will be age 65 or older in the next decade. The quality of life and successful aging of older adults, who now live longer, is an important research area from societal and public health perspectives. Rowe and Kahn (1997) defined successful aging as having a low probability of disease and disability, high cognitive and physical functioning, and active engagement with life. A prominent limitation of this model is that it initially neglects essential components of aging and factors that are beyond an individual’s choice and control, such as health declines and disabilities. We used the National Health & Aging Trends Study data to understand successful aging from the perspectives of those who experience disability integrating subjective components of self-rated health and well-being. These data provide insights on subjective perceptions on successful aging among older adults with disabilities.
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