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Healthy Living Programme for Older Adults

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Frail Older Adults
Interventions
Behavioral: Healthy Living Programme
Registration Number
NCT02904174
Lead Sponsor
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
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.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
122
Inclusion Criteria
  • able to communicate and understand Cantonese
  • > 1 in frailty score
  • members of the Pentecostal Church of Hong Kong
Exclusion Criteria
  • nil

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
SINGLE_GROUP
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Healthy Living ProgrammeHealthy Living Programme6 weeks program, with 45 minutes weekly session over 6 weeks.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.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in subjective happiness levelBaseline, 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 Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in knowledge in drug managementBaseline, Week 6

Measured by self-developed questionnaire. Range of score is 0-10, with higher score indicates having more knowledge.

Change in frailty statusBaseline, 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 fall preventionBaseline, Week 6

Measured by self-developed questionnaire. Range of score is 0-5, with higher score indicates having more knowledge.

Change in knowledge in healthy eating habitsBaseline, Week 6

Measured by self-developed questionnaire. Range of score is 0-12, with higher score indicates having more knowledge.

Change in pain intensityBaseline, 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 beliefsBaseline, 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 mobilityBaseline, 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 hand grip strengthBaseline, 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

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