Promoting Healthy Behaviors in Older Adults to Optimize Health-Promoting Lifestyle: An Intervention Study.

Introduction: Exercise intervention is the easiest and most effective way to promote human health. This study combined technology and exercise to improve the health behavior of the older adults through a physical activity intervention and to enhance a health-promoting lifestyle. Materials and methods: A quasi-experimental research method was used to openly recruit 120 healthy male and female older adults over 65 years old (average age of males: 71.6 ± 1.25 years; average age of females: 72.3 ± 1.28 years), all of whom wore smart bracelets. The participants were monitored by special personnel during the same period of walking every Monday to Friday. All participants recorded their daily steps, distance walked, and calorie consumption data for a period of 8 weeks. Results: After 8 weeks of walking, all participants showed a positive medium−high correlation of various factors between healthy behaviors and the health-promoting lifestyle scales. In the post-tests of each factor of two scales, males had the highest correlation between regular physical activity and physical activity, and females had the highest correlation between regular physical activity and social support. The variabilities in the explanatory power of the health behaviors of males and females on the health-promoting lifestyle were R2 = 70.9% (p < 0.01) and R2 = 74.1% (p < 0.01), indicating that the variables of healthy behaviors have a positive effect on health-promoting lifestyles in male and female older adults. Conclusions: Walking interventions positively affect the health behaviors of older adults and encourage health-promoting lifestyles. The value of this study is in its contribution to health promotion and public health recommendations for older adults.

Physical Activity and Social Support to Promote a Health-Promoting Lifestyle in Older Adults: An Intervention Study.

The purpose of this study was to understand the effect of intervention in the form of physical activity and social support while co-exercising to promote a health-promoting lifestyle in older adults. This study openly recruited 60 healthy male older adults, all of whom wore a wrist-worn Garmin device walker. Experimental group A was monitored by a special person and walked together as a group, experimental group B walked independently outdoors, and the control group went about their daily routine as normal. All participants recorded daily steps and calorie consumption data for eight weeks. The results of the study showed that when walking together in experimental group A, the number of daily walks and calories consumed could be maintained at a high level due to the effect of group and social support. The number of daily walks in experimental group B was inconsistent due to the lack of motivation to walk on their own. The control group consumed the lowest number of calories in their daily routine. The results show that physical activity and social support have positive explanatory power for a health-promoting lifestyle. Finally, physical activity in older adults should be promoted, and social support for interaction with peers can effectively promote a healthy lifestyle and respond to the arrival of the super-aged society in advance.

Interventions to Improve Body Composition, Upper and Lower Extremity Muscle Strength, and Balance Ability of Older Female Adults: An Intervention Study.

The aim of the present study was to understand the effects of a moderate-intensity physical activity program on the changes observed in the body composition, upper and lower extremity muscle strength, as well as balance in elderly female adults in order to evaluate sarcopenia. In this study, 30 healthy elderly females were recruited and were randomly assigned to either the control group or the experimental group. The experimental group engaged in a moderate-intensity physical activity program twice a week for 8 weeks. Using a body composition analyzer, the senior fitness test, and handgrip strength and gait speed tests, all participants were tested in pre- and post-tests. The results of the study revealed changes in the overall body composition in the experimental group, with significant decreases in body mass index, body fat percentage, and body fat mass and substantial increases in the basal metabolic rate and skeletal muscle mass, while the upper and lower extremity muscle strength and balance ability also showed significant improvements. The moderate-intensity physical activity program also increased upper limb handgrip strength and lower limb gait speed, showing that the plan was able to effectively evaluate sarcopenia. The study concluded that using upper limb handgrip strength and lower limb walking speed to evaluate sarcopenia are useful diagnostic tools. Moderate-intensity physical activity is effective for improving muscle strength and reducing sarcopenia.

Interventions to Improve Physical Capability of Older Adults with Mild Disabilities: A Case Study.

Ageing is related to changes in physical health, including loss of mobility and muscle function. It can lead to impaired physical capability and reduced quality of life. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a physical activity rehabilitation program (PARP) could improve range of joint motion (ROM), grip strength, and gait speed of older adults with mild disabilities. Forty older adults in a long-term care center in Taiwan joined as human participants and were split into control and experimental groups. The participants in the experimental group joined a PARP for eight weeks. The ROM of bodily joints, grip strength, and gait speed of all participants were measured both before and after the eight-week period. The results showed that all the ROMs, grip strength, and gait speed of the participants in the experimental group increased significantly after attending the program. The improvement of the ROMs for male and female participants in the experimental group ranged from 3.8% to 71% and from 7.8% to 75%, respectively. Male participants had greater improvement on gait speed (50%) than their female counterparts (22.9%). Female participants, on the other hand, had greater improvement on grip strength (25.4%) than their male counterparts (20.3%). The ROM, grip strength, and gait speed of the control group, on the other hand, did not change significantly during the same period. The results showed that the PARP adopted in this study was effective in increasing the ROM, grip strength, and gait speed of those who had joined the PARP. This study shows that an eight-week PARP without the use of gym machines was beneficial in reducing sarcopenia in elderly people with mild disabilities.

Predict the exercise behavior intention of the older adults in Taipei City to promote exercise behavior.

The purpose of this study employed the theory of planned behavior as a research framework to analyze the explanatory power of exercise attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control on exercise intention among older adults and to obtain insight on exercise behavior among older adults. The study used Ajzen's theory of planning behavior as a basis to compile the "Exercise Behavior Intention Questionnaire of the Older Adults." Results showed that there were significant differences were detected in the exercise intentions of older adults with different subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. This indicated that older adults of greater age have a greater need for companionship from family members and stronger subjective norms. In addition, exercise attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control explained the variance in exercise intention among older adults, verifying the positive explanatory power of these variables on exercise intention in older adults. The study concluded that the theory of planned behavior, improving older adults' exercise attitude alone was insufficient for increasing their exercise behavior intention. In particular, older adults of greater age had greater needs for social support from the main groups, and they required encouragement to enhance their self-efficacy and confidence.