Presenter/Author:

Yanping DUAN (1)

Other Author:

Min YANG (1), Wei LIANG (1), Shiping ZHANG (2), Li CHEN (3)

Author Affiliation:

1. Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
2. School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
3. Department of Computer Science, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China

Keywords:

Abstract:

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened unhealthy lifestyle patterns among elderly people such as insufficient physical activity (PA) and unhealthy diets, which may lead to negative consequences for individual health and impose a heavy burden on medical systems. The stand-alone face-to-face and web-based interventions have been confirmed to be effective in promoting PA and diet among old adults but with several limitations in practice. The blended intervention combining face-to-face and web-based intervention may compensate for the weaknesses of the other. The proposed research aims to develop and evaluate the effects of a 10-week blended lifestyle intervention in promoting PA, diet, and health-related outcomes among Hong Kong community-dwelling old adults.

Methods: This study will apply a three-arm randomized controlled trial with a single-blinded design. 144 participants (aged ≥ 65) from three senior centres in Hong Kong will be randomly assigned to one of the three groups. (1) Intervention group I will receive a 10-week face-to-face intervention with one session for PA and one session for diet each week. Each PA session will consist of a health talk on PA (15 mins) and an interactive activity (physical exercise training for 45 mins). Each diet session will consist of a health talk on the diet (15 minutes) and an interactive activity (nutrition counseling for 45 minutes). (2) Intervention group II will receive a 10-week face-to-face- and web-based blended intervention. In addition, to attend all face-to-face interventions conducted in Intervention group I, participants in the blended group will take part in a web-based behavior change promotion intervention with one session for PA and one session for diet each week. The intervention component will be developed based on the Health Action Process Approach. (3) A control group without intervention. The primary outcomes will be PA (MET/week) and diet behaviors. The secondary outcomes will include physical health outcomes (physical fitness, blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, and blood lipids), mental health outcomes (depression, loneliness) and health-related quality of life. All data will be measured three times including pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up after post-intervention. A series of generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) will be applied to evaluate the intervention effects.

Significance: It is expected that the face-to-face and web-based blended intervention would be superior to promoting older adults’ PA, healthy diet, and wellness compared to the traditional face-to-face intervention and control condition. The study findings may provide an alternative approach to facilitate healthy ageing in the society of Hong Kong.

Reference:

N/A

Funding Source:

This study is funded by Research Development Fund, HKBU and Pilot Grant for Junior Academics, HKBU.

Conflict of Interests:

The authors report no conflicts of interest related to this study.