Yoga for falls prevention: impressions of people aged 60 years and over

BackgroundYoga may reduce fall risk in older age. The Successful AGEing (SAGE) yoga trial investigates the effect of yoga on falls among community-dweller people aged 60+. We conducted a process evaluation to gauge participants’ impressions of the supervised 40-week yoga program delivered face-to-face and/or online (due to COVID-19).MethodsParticipants completed a survey assessing: a) perceived program benefit for physical health, wellbeing, and balance/risk of falls, b) satisfaction with program features;c) physical ability to participate in the program. They self-rated these aspects using a 0 to 10 scale, where higher scores indicated more benefit, greater satisfaction/ability. We also measured the proportion of participants who would recommend the program and continue participation in yoga.ResultsWe included 179 participants (mean age of 68 (SD 5);80% female). The mean rating of program benefit was 9/10 (SD 1.8) for physical health and 8/10 (SD 2.0) for wellbeing and balance/risk of fall. Overall, participants expressed greater satisfaction associated with program content (mean 9/10 [SD 1.4]) and yoga instructors (9/10 [SD 1.2]). Participants viewed the yoga program as enjoyable but challenging and reported that yoga instructors were supportive, professional and tailored poses to individual needs. Participants rated their physical ability to participate in the program as excellent (9/10 [SD 1.7]). The majority (n=157, 94%) would recommend the program and intended to continue practising yoga after trial completion (n=100;58%).ConclusionOverall, the SAGE yoga was well-received, perceived to benefit health, wellbeing and balance/falls risk and would be recommended to others.

The Brief Observation of Symptoms of Autism (BOSA): Development of a New Adapted Assessment Measure for Remote Telehealth Administration through COVID-19 and Beyond (preprint)

Interest in telehealth assessment for autism has increased due to COVID-19 and subsequent expansion of remote psychological services, though options that are easy for clinicians to adopt and available through the lifespan are limited. The Brief Observation of Symptoms of Autism (BOSA) provides a social context with standardized materials and activities that can be coded by clinicians trained in the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). The current project examined psychometric properties to determine optimal use for each BOSA version. Three hundred and seven participants with 453 BOSAs were included to determine best performing items for algorithms, validity, sensitivity, specificity, recommended cut-offs, and proposed ranges of concern. While preliminary, the BOSA provides a promising new option for telehealth-administered assessment for autism.