This study investigates how walking exercises and technology could enhance the quality of life in the older generation. It has three objectives: 1) To examine the effectiveness of the Connect Active Program (CAP) in improving intergenerational relationships, psychological well-being, and physical fitness for older adults; 2) To teach older adults to use mobile apps; 3) To examine the experiences and feedback from participants in using the apps and joining the CAP. This research will provide long-term insights into improving the overall health outcomes of older adults via intergenerational support and increasing the acceptance of mobile technology among older adults.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
40
Younger adults will help older adults increase their digital literacy, skills, and desire to exercise and become more physically active via the proposed intervention. The Connect Active Program will consist of two components: walking exercises and mobile apps.
Hong Kong Metropolitan University
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Aerobic Capacity and Endurance Evaluation with 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT)
It is initially created to assist in the examination of cardiopulmonary patients developed by the American Thoracic Society. It is a light-intensity exercise test to evaluate the aerobic capacity, endurance and oxygen saturation.
Time frame: Baseline, Week 6
Mobility and Balance Assessment with Time Up and Go Test
To assess mobility, movement, static balance and dynamic in people with musculoskeletal impairments, conditions related to aging, quality of life, and pain. The instructions are given as standing up from a chair, walking 3 meters, turning, and back to sit.
Time frame: Baseline, Week 6
Quality of Life Measurement
Quality of life will be evaluated utilizing the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF). It contains four realms: physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environment. A 5-point response scale is used in the scale. WHOQOL-BREF has good validity and reliability.
Time frame: Baseline, Week 6
Happiness Level Determination
A 29-item measure of happiness; from 1 "strongly agree," to 6, "strongly disagree." The scale's reliability was 0.91.
Time frame: Baseline, Week 6
Intergenerational Relationship Appraisal
The intergenerational relationship quality scale (IRQS) to appraise the changes in intergenerational relationships, this questionnaire will allow the older participants to self-rate the relationship between the two generations. A 5-point response scale is applied in the scale.
Time frame: Baseline, Week 6
Subjective Quality Assessment of Mobile Apps
The 4-item subjective quality subscale of the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) will be deployed to assess the overall quality of mobile apps involved in this study. MARS incorporates four objective quality subscales (engagement, functionality, aesthetics, and information quality) and one subjective quality subscale. Since a lengthy questionnaire would be complicated for the older participants to complete, we will only adopt the subjective quality subscale. All four items are assessed on a 5-point scale. The subjective quality subscale showed excellent internal consistency (alpha = 0.93) and interrater reliability intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC = 0.83). Higher scores indicate a higher level of subjective quality.
Time frame: Baseline, Week 6
Participant Feedback Collection
Semi-structured interview for older and younger participants: Individual interviews will be carried out by the Research Assistant upon completion of the CAP (post-test). They will be asked to comment on the perceived benefits, limitations and barriers in the program and the mobile apps, usefulness of the mobile apps, and recommendations for improving the CAP to meet their needs. Details of the questionnaire.
Time frame: Baseline, Week 6
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