Date Presented 04/22/2023
Fidelity and effectiveness of a healthy aging wellness program were examined.Significant improvement was found in participants’ sense of hope. Participants reported satisfaction with the program.This healthy aging wellness program supports aging in place.
Primary Author and Speaker: Jeanine Stancanelli
Additional Authors and Speakers: Amiya Waldman-Levi
Contributing Authors: Tennille Lambert, Benay Rubin, Monica Polanco, Marcella Trevisan, Zoraida Hidalgo, Denisse Tejada, Pinki Ghosh, Veronica Vallejo
PURPOSE: Community dwelling older adults’ well-being is at greater risk when they are isolated from support systems. Yoga programs have demonstrated ability to improve older adult’s physical mobility and cognitive functioning, while wellness programs contributed to their psychological well-being. However, the majority of the studies used either yoga or wellness-based programs. The Healthy Aging Wellness (HAW) program using mindfulness and yoga was developed and delivered via telehealth to ensure access. To establish program fidelity and examine preliminary effectiveness of the HAW program the following questions were used: (1) will program fidelity be reflected by acceptable adherence and competence to its protocol? (2) will there be significant differences in participants’ sense of hope and well-being from pre-to-posttest? and (3) what are the benefits to the participants?
DESIGN: A a mix-methods, one group, pre-and-posttest design. Independent older adults aged 65 and older with a Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) >26 who spoke English were recruited via convenience sampling.
METHOD: MMSE, Integrative Hope Scale, Personal Well-being Index, and an interview were administered. Fidelity checklist to measure adherence and competent delivery were completed. Analytic strategy: (1) level of agreement between raters; (2) Wilcoxon sign-rank test to detect within differences in sense of hope and well-being; and (3) content analysis of participant’s interview.
RESULTS: Fidelity adherence of 94% and competence of 89% were achieved. Results showed significant improvement in participant’s sense of hope n = 9, Z = 40, p <0.05. Participants reported increase in relationship building and personal enjoyment.
CONCLUSION: The program increased participant’s sense of hope, belonging and social connection.
IMPACT STATEMENT: A larger sample size will support future implementation as an occupational therapy health promotion program for community-dwelling older adults.
References
American Journal of Occupational Therapy. (2020). Occupational therapy in the promotion of health and well-being. Vol. 74, 7403420010. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2020.743003
American Journal of Occupational Therapy. (2018). Teleheath in occupational therapy. Vol. 72, 7212410059. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2018.72S219
Waldman-Levi, A., & Bar Haim-Erez, A., Katz, N., & Stancanelli, J. (2020). Emotional functioning and sense of hope as contributors to health ageing. Occupational Therapy Journal of Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/1539449220920728
