Relationships Between Types of Leisure Activities and Mental Health among Older Adults With Diabetes During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: Three types of leisure activities such as sedentary, social, and leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) have been identified as essential factors that influence mental health outcomes among older adults with diabetes. In this study, we aimed to investigate what types of leisure activities are associated with mental health outcomes among older adults with diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We used 2020 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) data. We extracted 310 records from 3266 individuals diagnosed with diabetes and conducted a hierarchical regression analysis to investigate the research question. Results: LTPA was the strongest predictor of reduced loneliness and stress and increased happiness and life satisfaction among older adults with diabetes. Discussion: Our findings highlight the relationship between different types of leisure activities and mental health for older adults with diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data suggest that LTPA, social leisure, and sedentary leisure reduce loneliness and stress and improve happiness and life satisfaction.

Physical Activity and Health of Koreans with Spinal Cord Injury during COVID-19.

Objectives: The primary purpose of this study was to explore the mediating roles of resilience and physical activity (PA) levels on the subjective health of people with spinal cord injury(SCI) during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: A total of 201 Koreans with SCI completed a survey between February and April 2021. The questionnaire measured participants' PA levels before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, resilience, and subjective health assessment. The data were analyzed using SPSS, and PROCESS macro (Model 6) was used to determine the dual mediation effects. Results: PA levels before COVID-19 positively affected resilience and PA levels during COVID-19, and resilience positively affected PA levels during COVID-19 and subjective health. PA levels during COVID-19 had a positive influence on subjective health. Moreover, resilience and PA levels during COVID-19 were independent mediators of the relationship between PA levels before COVID-19 and subjective health. PA levels before COVID-19 indirectly affected subjective health through a dual-mediated pathway of resilience and PA levels during COVID-19. Conclusion: We suggest that it is necessary to promote regular PA for people with physical disabilities to enhance resilience, and thus, maintain a healthy life even during a public health crisis.

A Pilot Study of Virtual Reality (VR) Tai Chi Program on Mental Health among Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: Tai Chi, an ancient Chinese martial art, has been credited for improving the physical and mental health of community-dwelling older adults. Virtual reality (VR) has developed as a therapeutic technique for improving health and well-being in older adults. Previous research on exercise-based VR interventions in older adults has focused primarily on the physical and cognitive health effects. The extent to which a program integrating the ancient practice of Tai Chi with virtual reality might benefit older individuals' physical and mental health is an unknown entity. In this pilot study, we examined potential advantages of the virtual Tai Chi program in terms of health outcomes, as well as to gather qualitative data on the barriers to VR program participation. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 5 participants who had participated at least 5 years in traditional Tai Chi. RESULTS: Three key salient themes emerged as beneficial results of VR experiences: (1) mindfulness/ meditation, (2) enjoyment, and (3) physical exercise. Participants also reported 3 main challenges: (1) some difficulties with controllers and functions, (2) cybersickness/pain, and (3) absence of group synergy. CONCLUSIONS: These challenges suggest further avenues of investigation for researchers in refining this approach.

Leisure activities, life satisfaction, and happiness among people with spinal cord injury during the COVID-19 pandemic

Prior studies have demonstrated that engagement in various leisure activities is associated with improved physical health and subjective well-being among people with SCI. These studies have stressed the importance of leisure activities as coping strategies that contribute to the life satisfaction and quality of life among people with SCI while counteracting their negative life experiences. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among types of leisure activities, health perception, life satisfaction, and happiness among people with SCI. The participants of the study were 201 individuals, 148 males (73.6%) and 53 females (26.4%), with spinal cord injuries who were recruited through the Korea Spinal Cord Injury Association. Results indicated that sport activities, community activities, and perceived health condition were significantly related with life satisfaction. Perceived health condition and life satisfaction as well as age and home-based activities were significantly related with the happiness of the participants. Participation in sport activities and community-based activities was positively associated with life satisfaction, and home-based activities had a positive association with happiness among people with SCI. Thus, the results of this study confirm the importance of leisure as a way of increasing the life satisfaction and happiness of people with SCI during the pandemic. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Leisure Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Identifying the Relationship between Leisure Walking and Prevalence of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias.

The literature suggests that leisure walking can play an important role in preventing dementia. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between leisure walking and the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other dementias among older adults. Using the 2020 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), 4581 responses constituted the sample for the present study. A hierarchical logit regression analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between leisure walking and the prevalence of AD and dementia. The results show that leisure walking has been negatively associated with the prevalence of AD and other dementias-that is, they indicate that older adults who frequently engaged in leisure walking were less likely to develop AD and other dementias. This finding suggests the importance of leisure walking as a dementia prevention program for older adults.

Leisure Satisfaction Changes and Stress-coping during the Pandemic.

Objectives: Leisure engagement has been considered as a salient stress-coping strategy. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, people's leisure engagement has been restricted due to COVID-19- related regulations and policies. Moreover, many Asian immigrants, including Korean immigrants in the US, have been exposed to additional challenges (e.g., discrimination and harassment), which negatively affected their leisure experiences. Methods: in this study, we categorized participants into 3 groups based on their leisure satisfaction changes before and during the pandemic and compared the groups regarding COVID-19 risk perception, stress-coping, and life satisfaction. Results: The Maintained or Increased Group (MIG) scored significantly lower stress than the Highly Decreased group (HDG); the MIG scored significantly higher life satisfaction than both the Slightly Decreased Group (SDG) and the HDG. Conclusion: The research demonstrated the importance of satisfactory leisure experience to cope with stress and be satisfied with their life in a stressful life event.

Different Levels of Leisure-time Physical Activity, Coping, and Mental Health among Older Adults with Diabetes during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 has led public health researchers to try to improve mental health among older adults with diabetes. Leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) has emerged as a means of coping with mental health difficulties in the pandemic. Methods: We extracted 301 respondents from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) based on the following criteria: over 50 years old and the onset of diabetes. We used multiple questionnaire items to assess mental health (ie, loneliness, happiness, and positive and negative affect) for older adults with diabetes. We used multivariate analysis of variance to investigate the relationships between the fixed variable (ie, LTPA) and outcome variables (ie, mental health). We categorized LTPA participation into 3 groups (ie, low, mid, and high) and examined mental health following various levels of LTPA participation. Results: LTPA participation showed a significant group mean differences for loneliness, happiness, and positive affect, but not for negative affect. High-LTPA respondents presented lower loneliness and higher happiness than low-LTPA respondents. High-LTPA and mid-LTPA respondents indicated higher positive affect than low-LTPA respondents. Conclusions: This study provides evidence of the benefits of LTPA on mental health for older adults with diabetes and suggests that high-LPTA involvement can be effective in promoting mental health among older adults with diabetes in the COVID-19 era.