Effects of a Community-Based Exercise Program on Older Adults’ Physical Function, Activities of Daily Living, and Exercise Self-Efficacy: Feeling Fit Club

Abstract

Community-based exercise programs have demonstrated feasibility, yet many lack controlled studies examining their efficacy. This study examined the efficacy of a community-based exercise program, using a controlled design. Participants ( N = 262, M = 74.0 years, SD = 8.4) were women (77%) and men recruited from senior centers served by the county Area Agency on Aging. Intervention participants ( n = 133) were newly enrolled in classes. Controls ( n = 129) were recruited from matched sites not offering classes. Validated measures of physical function, exercise self-efficacy, balance, and activities of daily living (ADL) confidence were administered at baseline and 3 months. Significant improvements in upper and lower body strength, aerobic endurance, mobility, exercise self-efficacy, and balance were found in the exercisers but not controls. No changes in ADL confidence occurred in exercisers, while significant decreases occurred in controls. Findings support the efficacy of the county-wide program. Building an evidence base for community-delivered programs should provide impetus for increased dissemination through state and national agencies thereby increasing program impact.

A Statewide Approach to Falls Prevention: Widespread Implementation of A Matter of Balance in North Carolina, 2014–2019

“…In summary, our experience shows that MOB can be feasibly implemented statewide in community settings with a resource center to provide support. As noted by Levy et al (2018, p. 40), “Building an evidence base for community-delivered programs should provide impetus for increased dissemination through state and national agencies thereby increasing program impact.” Furthermore, our experience and evidence demonstrate the importance of increasing the availability and accessibility of these programs through a centralized statewide support system to reduce the impacts of falls on both older adults and the health care system. The establishment of a statewide resource center such as HANC can offer a sharper image of the impact of EBFPPs through the centralization of statewide data collection and quality assurance, which can help to identify program delivery gaps and partnerships to better serve high need and underserved areas and populations.…”

A thematic analysis of the perceptions of a community‐based exercise program on the health and well‐being of ageing adults

“…The significant improvements to physical health has been well documented with several studies reporting measurable health outcomes (Hughes et al, 2009;Hulya et al, 2015;Keogh et al, 2014;Kim et al, 2014;Levy et al, 2018;Manson et al, 2013;McNamara et al, 2013;Stathokostas et al, 2017;Vrantsidis et al, 2014;Werner et al, 2014). The health outcomes in the aforementioned studies included upper and lower body strength, mobility, balance, posture, coordination, gait and aerobic endurance.…”

“…Current literature highlights significant and measurable improvements in the physical health of ageing adults that have participated in a CBEP (Hughes et al, 2009;Hulya et al, 2015;Keogh et al, 2014;Kim et al, 2014;Levy et al, 2018;Manson et al, 2013;McNamara et al, 2013;Stathokostas et al, 2017;Vrantsidis et al, 2014;Werner et al, 2014). The role of the exercise instructor was considered influential in program adherence rates.…”

Intervenção psicoeducativa e tecnológica para prevenção de quedas em pessoas idosas

“…Para avaliar a autoeficácia para quedas foi usada a Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) em sua versão brasileira, FES-I-Brasil (Camargos et al, 2010 A capacidade física é essencial para a realização das atividades de vida diária (AVD) e manutenção da independência e autonomia, desta forma, idosos inativos podem apresentar maior dependência na realização das AVDs, diminuição de força nos membros inferiores e diminuição de força de preensão palmar (Souza, Fillenbaum & Blay, 2015), fatores estes que são evidenciados na literatura como fatores de risco para quedas (Gafner et al, 2017;Santos et al, 2016;Ward et al, 2015). Os idosos estão entre os mais inativos, 26% dos idosos norte americanos com idade entre 65 e 74 anos relatam não realizar nenhuma atividade física e este número chega a 35% entre os idosos com 75 anos ou mais (Levy et al, 2018), no Brasil um estudo de base populacional apresenta achados semelhantes com 30% dos idosos de 60 a 69 referindo inatividade e 39% dos idosos de 70 a 79 anos (Queiroz et al, 2014).…”

“…Idosos com idade avançada apresentam mais dificuldade em viver de forma independente e com autonomia, apresentando também comprometimento na realização das AVDs, diminuição de força nos membros inferiores e diminuição de força de preensão palmar, portanto, este é um fator de risco para quedas descrito na literatura (Levy et al, 2018). Comprometimento nas AVDs, diminuição de força nos membros inferiores e diminuição de força de preensão palmar, também são evidenciados na literatura de forma individual como fatores de risco para quedas (Gafner et al, 2017;Santos et al, 2016;Ward et al, 2015), uma vez que, são preditores para a capacidade de manter as habilidades físicas e mentais para uma vida independente e autônoma, ou seja, preditores de capacidade funcional (Cuevas-Trisan, 2017;Gafner et al, 2017).…”