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

Abstract

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 together despite differences 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.

Feasibility of Virtual Tablet-Based Group Exercise Among Older Adults in Siberia: Findings From Two Pilot Trials

“…In our previous study [12,24], we made some steps to test the feasibility of a tool for online group exercising, namely Gymcentral, that allows individual of different levels of fitness to follow exercises with the remote company of others. We conducted an 8-week pilot study exploring the effects of online group exercise training in Trento, Italy, with 37 adults, 65 years and above, who followed the Otago exercise program [25] aiming at strength and balance improvement in older age.…”

Technologies for Promoting Social Participation in Later Life

“…The results consistently show the feasibility of the tool, and provide further insights into the effects of the various design choices and their limitations in promoting social participation. In what follows we summarise the findings, focusing on the results of the study in Trento (Baez et al, 2017) for simplicity, although the overall results have been consistent across studies. This was a randomised pilot trial with a total of 37 older adults aged between 65 and 87 years old, who followed a personalized fall prevention exercise program for a period of eight weeks.…”

The Benefits of emotion Regulation Interventions in Virtual Reality for the Improvement of Wellbeing in Adults and Older Adults: A Systematic Review

“…Table 2 shows the results for the risk of bias assessment. All the studies included in this review reported the sampling method [41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51], although the performance and the detection biases during blinding phase were unclear for all but one [41]. Concerning the outcomes, only two studies [45,47] presented high risk of bias for missing data handled appropriately or for missing a match between methods and results.…”

“…The game used a customized controller belt that measures the expansion of the player's diaphragm and a head-mounted device. Other studies have used non-immersive devices, such as mobile applications [41]; Nintendo ® Wii Fit [47]; tablet and laptop [45,46,49,50]; and computer-based interface (BCI) [51].…”

“…Digital technologies are a powerful tool to enhance social inclusion [59], to support a more active and independent life in older adults and consequently to facilitate their wellbeing [60]. Among the presently investigated studies (see Table 5), Hasan et al [45] and Baez et al [46] proposed VR interventions focused on enhancing abilities for the maintenance of autonomy in older adults. Hasan et al have carried out a two-year project on the social use of information and communications technologies (ICT) in older adults.…”