Promoting Seniors' Health with Home Care Aides: A Pilot

描述(申请人提供)：定期体力活动有益于老年人的身体和精神。然而，居住在社区的老年人在走路、洗澡、穿衣和其他基本日常活动方面存在困难，缺乏进行体育活动的机会。越来越多需要帮助进行两项或两项以上日常生活活动的老年人(即有养老院级别护理需求的老年人)留在社区接受居家护理。家庭护理助理经常在较长时间内提供日常家务和个人护理，因此有可能促进其客户的身体活动。然而，现有的身体活动计划很少适合家庭护理助手在非医疗家庭护理环境中向老年客户提供服务。该项目的长期目标是开发一个由家庭护理助手领导的可持续健康促进计划，可供社区组织(如家庭护理机构、国家老龄单位)使用，以保持居住在其家中的符合疗养院资格的老年人的独立性。主要目标是在医疗补助资助的家庭护理计划中，试行由家庭护理助手为社区居住的老年人提供的身体活动计划。具体目标是：(1)检验和提高方案的可行性；(2)检验和提高数据收集的可行性和结果测量的适用性。身体活动计划包括一个简短的励志访谈和三个坐在椅子上的动作，预计将激励符合养老院条件的老年人增加身体活动，并帮助保持他们在社区中的独立性。该项目最初由病例经理提供，建立在对身体活动和行为变化的科学研究基础上，并将转化为由家庭护理助手提供的项目。这项研究将提供必要的信息，以设计未来的研究，以测试该计划的有效性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Regular physical activity benefits older adults physically and mentally. However, community-dwelling older adults who have difficulties with walking, bathing, dressing and other basic daily activities, lack access to physical activity. A growing number of seniors who need help with 2 or more activities of daily living (i.e., seniors with nursing home-level care needs) remain in the community and receive home care. Home care aides regularly provide routine housekeeping and personal care for an extended period of time and thus have a potential to promote their clients' physical activity. However, few existing physical activity programs are appropriate for home care aides to deliver to older clients in non-medical home care settings. The long-term goal of this project is to develop a sustainable health promotion program led by home care aides that can be used by community-based organizations (e.g. home care agencies, State Units on Aging) to maintain independence among nursing home-eligible older adults living in their homes. The primary objective is to pilot a physical activity program delivered by home care aides for community-dwelling older adults in a Medicaid- funded home care program. The specific aims are: (1) to test and enhance the program feasibility, and (2) to test and enhance the feasibility of data collection and the applicability of outcome measures. The physical activity program, which consists of a brief motivational interview and three chair-bound movements, is expected to motivate nursing home-eligible seniors to increase physical activity and help maintain their independence in the community. The program, originally delivered by case managers, builds on scientific studies of physical activity and behavioral change, and will be translated into the one to be delivered by home care aides. This study will provide information necessary to design a future study to test the program's effectiveness.