A gentle exercise program for frail seniors can help them develop more independence to carry out everyday tasks, according to a study published in The Gerontologist in July.
Researchers adapted the Healthy Moves for Aging Well Program, created by the Partners in Care Foundation, to implement a regular physical activity program delivered by home care aides for older adults in Chicago. The 54 participants, ages 63 to 101, were in Medicaid-funded home care settings. All of the seniors had multiple chronic conditions.
Through the adapted Healthy Moves program, home care aides encouraged clients through motivational enhancement and helped them take part in three gentle exercises while sitting in a chair: a seated step-in-place, arm curls and an ankle point and flex.
After the four-month intervention, the seniors reported numerous benefits from the gentle exercise program, including improvements in physical performance, self-rated health and carrying out daily activities.
According to lead study author Naoko Muramatsu, PhD, associate professor of community health sciences in the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, the success of the adapted Healthy Moves program can be attributed to two aspects in particular: gentle physical activity that can performed in a seated position as well as the inclusion of home care aides, who encourage seniors to keep up with their exercise routines.
“Home care aides are there to help with act of daily living, and they have a rapport (with their clients),” Muramatsu told The Nation’s Health. “It’s difficult for frail older adults to get started with activities, and home care aides can visit every day.”
She noted that home care aides can take a more active role by helping seniors find easy ways to incorporate regular physical activity in their daily routines, such as when they are watching TV. Further, seniors have an activity to look forward to every day, Muramatsu said.
The study found that the program was also well-received by home care aides, who became more involved in the seniors’ lives through Healthy Moves. According to Muramatsu, the emphasis on home care aides was another component of Healthy Moves that made it stand out from other exercise programs for older adults.
“The current home care culture (dictates) that home care clients are expected to be dependent,” with home care responsible for activities such as cooking and cleaning, Muramatsu said. But under the structure of Healthy Moves, “home care aides encourage people to be active and they work together on these activities.”
Such cooperation toward improved health also gives home care aides a sense of purpose, according to Muramatsu.
Through Healthy Moves, home care aides “feel empowered to have a specific tool to help older adults get healthy, because usually they (are not) considered to be part of the health care team, even though they know older adults’ conditions most intimately,” she said.
Muramatsu said she hopes to incorporate the principles of Healthy Moves into the regular care of seniors and the responsibilities of home care aides. With the success of the pilot and further research, policymakers could be swayed to adopt a Healthy Moves program on a larger scale, she said.
For more information, visit https://academic.oup.com/gerontologist/article-abstract/doi/10.1093/geront/gnx101/3869650/Promoting-Seniors-Health-With-Home-Care-Aides-A.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
