Remotely supervised home-based online chair yoga intervention for older adults with dementia: Feasibility study. (August 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Park, Juyoung; Heilman, Keri J.; Sullivan, Marlysa; Surage, Jayshree; Levine, Hannah; Hung, Lillian; Ortega, María; Kirk Wiese, Lisa Ann; Ahn, Hyochol
• Is Part Of: Complementary therapies in clinical practice. Volume 48(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-08
• Subjects: Older adults -- Online chair yoga -- Dementia -- Social isolation -- Emotional loneliness; Integrative medicine -- Periodicals; Integrative medicine -- Research -- Periodicals; Alternative medicine -- Periodicals; 615.5
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2022.101617
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1744-3881

Abstract

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, η 2 = 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. Highlights: A home-based remotely supervised online chair yoga is feasible and safe for socially isolated older adults with dementia. A telehealth-based chair yoga intervention was found to be convenient to older adults with dementia and their caregivers. Yoga instructor can monitor participants' poses and correct them to optimize efficacy of yoga and reduce a chance of injury. This telehealth approach can be used as a monitoring and coaching strategy for implementation of home-based CY.