Juyoung Park1, Keri J Heilman2, Marlysa Sullivan3, Jayshree Surage3, Hannah Levine4, Lillian Hung5, María Ortega6, Lisa Ann Kirk Wiese7, Hyochol Ahn8. 1. Florida Atlantic University, Phyllis and Harvey Sandler School of Social Work, USA. Electronic address: jpark14@fau.edu. 2. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, College of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, USA. 3. Integrative Health Sciences, Maryland University of Integrative Health, USA. 4. Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Marcus Institute of Integrative Health at FAU Medicine, Florida Atlantic University, USA. 5. University of British Columbia, School of Nursing, Vancouver, Canada. 6. Louis and Anne Green Memory and Wellness Center of the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, Florida Atlantic University, USA. 7. Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, Florida Atlantic University, USA. 8. Florida State University College of Nursing, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: and Purpose: Social isolation and caregiver burden call for an innovative way to deliver a chair yoga (CY) intervention to older adults with dementia who cannot travel to a community center. During a remotely supervised CY session, the yoga instructor can monitor each participant's pose and correct poses to optimize efficacy of CY and reduce chances of injury. This study assessed the feasibility of a remotely supervised online CY intervention for older adults with dementia and explored the relationship between CY and clinical outcomes: pain interference, mobility, risk of falling, sleep disturbance, autonomic reactivity, and loneliness. METHODS: Using a one-group pretest/posttest design, a home-based CY intervention was delivered remotely to 10 older adults with dementia twice weekly in 60-minute sessions for 8 weeks. Psychosocial and physiological (i.e., cardiac) data were collected remotely at baseline, mid-intervention, and post-intervention. RESULTS: The results indicated that remotely supervised online CY is a feasible approach for managing physical and psychological symptoms in socially isolated older adults with dementia, based on retention (70%) and adherence (87.5%), with no injury or other adverse events. While there were no significant findings for pain interference, mobility, sleep, or social loneliness longitudinally, emotional loneliness showed a significant increase, F(1.838, 11.029) = 6.293, p = .016, η2 = 0.512, from baseline to post-intervention. Although participants were socially connected to other participants via a videoconferencing platform, emotional loneliness increased during the pandemic period. CONCLUSION: A home-based remotely supervised online CY is a feasible approach for socially isolated older adults with dementia who are unable to travel to a facility.
BACKGROUND: and Purpose: Social isolation and caregiver burden call for an innovative way to deliver a chair yoga (CY) intervention to older adults with dementia who cannot travel to a community center. During a remotely supervised CY session, the yoga instructor can monitor each participant's pose and correct poses to optimize efficacy of CY and reduce chances of injury. This study assessed the feasibility of a remotely supervised online CY intervention for older adults with dementia and explored the relationship between CY and clinical outcomes: pain interference, mobility, risk of falling, sleep disturbance, autonomic reactivity, and loneliness. METHODS: Using a one-group pretest/posttest design, a home-based CY intervention was delivered remotely to 10 older adults with dementia twice weekly in 60-minute sessions for 8 weeks. Psychosocial and physiological (i.e., cardiac) data were collected remotely at baseline, mid-intervention, and post-intervention. RESULTS: The results indicated that remotely supervised online CY is a feasible approach for managing physical and psychological symptoms in socially isolated older adults with dementia, based on retention (70%) and adherence (87.5%), with no injury or other adverse events. While there were no significant findings for pain interference, mobility, sleep, or social loneliness longitudinally, emotional loneliness showed a significant increase, F(1.838, 11.029) = 6.293, p = .016, η2 = 0.512, from baseline to post-intervention. Although participants were socially connected to other participants via a videoconferencing platform, emotional loneliness increased during the pandemic period. CONCLUSION: A home-based remotely supervised online CY is a feasible approach for socially isolated older adults with dementia who are unable to travel to a facility.