Feasibility and Potential Benefits of a Virtually Delivered, Community-based, Task-oriented Exercise Program (TIME™ at Home) for People With Balance and Mobility Limitations

Balance and mobility limitations can adversely affect everyday functioning and accelerate dependence on caregivers leading to institutionalization. Previous literature has suggested that a group, task-oriented community-based exercise program (CBEP), targeting balance and mobility (i.e., capacity for walking, transfers, sit-to-stand, stairs), implemented through an innovative healthcare-community partnership (CBEP-HCP), has the potential to improve everyday function, independence and social participation in persons with stroke. The Together in Movement and Exercise (TIME™) program is a licensed, group, task-oriented community-based exercise program incorporating a healthcare-community partnership for adults with balance and mobility limitations. Physical therapists at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network (TRI-UHN), developed the TIME™ program. Trained fitness instructors deliver the exercise program face-to-face (in-person) in community centres and a healthcare professional who serves as a healthcare partner provides ongoing support. The program has been offered in over 50 community centres across Canada.

Virtual delivery of CBEP-HCPs is needed to address barriers to attending in-person exercise programs among people with balance and mobility limitations. Barriers can include inadequate access to transportation, inclement weather, distance to community centres, and community centre closures during pandemic situations.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the investigators used an iterative process to develop an online version of the TIME™ program, called TIME™ at Home. TIME™ at Home is a standardized, community-based program licensed by the UHN involving the delivery of video-based task-oriented exercises. The exercises in the video were adapted from the classic in-person TIME™ program and were considered safe for people with balance and mobility limitations to perform at home. In addition to a warm-up and cool-down, the video shows a physical therapist and an occupational therapist performing each exercise at two difficulty levels. Participants are asked to self-pace and self-select the difficulty level that feels right for them. A trained facilitator at a community organization streams the video for people with balance and mobility limitations using Zoom.

The TIME™ at Home program, due to its virtual nature, has potential to improve exercise participation in remote and isolated settings. Unlike the in-person program, it does not require participants to be physically present at a community centre, thus eliminating some common barriers like lack of (adaptive) transportation, difficulty with transportation during inclement weather, long travel times to community centres from rural settings, and inadequate building access. The program can be delivered at home with minimal equipment. Also, the program involves showing standardized exercise videos developed by physical therapists and occupational therapists at TRI-UHN which prevents the need to train fitness instructors to deliver the program. Therefore, TIME™ at Home has potential for reducing barriers encountered with delivering in-person standardized exercise programs in community-based settings.

Pilot research to date on the TIME™ at Home Program (Virtual Program)

Program developers at TRI-UHN in collaboration with our research group have evaluated the feasibility of components of the virtual TIME™ at Home Program in partnership with the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada and Abilities Centre in Whitby (Ontario). Findings support the safety of delivering TIME™ at Home using a drop-in format. The safety, feasibility, and potential benefit of a group-based format, class visits from a healthcare partner, and a post-class social time to facilitate social support, have not been comprehensively evaluated.

Thus, the study objectives are:

1. To evaluate the feasibility, safety, and potential to improve everyday functioning, lower extremity strength, functional mobility, balance self-efficacy, mood, caregiver mood, and perceived health status, of an 8-week, group, virtual, task-oriented community exercise program called TIME™ at Home, among people with balance and mobility limitations.
2. To describe the experiences of exercise participants, caregivers, healthcare partners, and program facilitators and coordinators with TIME™ at Home (using qualitative data collection and analyses).