Objectives: Currently ”community eldercare station” or ”community welfare station” forms an essential part of the government's policy for promoting the quality of life and preventing physical decline for our elderly population. To date, however, little information is available to report the positive effects of long-term regular health promotion exercise involving a rehabilitation team on the physical function of the elderly community dwellers. The purpose of the study was to determine whether the regular health-promotion exercise assisted by a rehabilitation team could improve the physical function of the community elderly. Methods: Single group pretest-posttest design was adopted in this pilot study. A total of 35 participants were enrolled in this exercise program that included two sessions a week with each session composed of a 3-hour health-promotion exercise held by trained volunteers. One of the weekly exercise sessions and a consultation session once every six weeks were provided respectively by a physical therapist and a medical doctor. Duration of exercise program was six months. The outcome measures included Barthel Index (BI) for activity of daily living, active range of motion (AROM), Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke Patients (PASS) for postural control and balance function, and home program execution questionnaires. Results: Thirty-one subjects (mean age 73.4±9.9 years, including 8 males and 23 females) completed the program. After six months of regular health-promotion exercise, significant improvements were observed in PASS, AROM and home program execution (p<0.05) but not in BI. The greatest extent of improvement was PASS, followed by home program execution and AROM. Conclusion: Our study indicated that regular, long-term health promotion exercise, provided by community trained volunteers and rehabilitation specialists, may help community elderly improve their performance in PASS, AROM, and home program execution. The results, however, needs to be further verified since our study was conducted in the absence of a control group.
Objectives: Currently ”community eldercare station” or ”community welfare station” forms an essential part of the government's policy for promoting the quality of life and preventing physical decline for our elderly population. To date, however, little information is available to report the positive effects of long-term regular health promotion exercise involving a rehabilitation team on the physical function of the elderly community dwellers. The purpose of the study was to determine whether the regular health-promotion exercise assisted by a rehabilitation team could improve the physical function of the community elderly. Methods: Single group pretest-posttest design was adopted in this pilot study. A total of 35 participants were enrolled in this exercise program that included two sessions a week with each session composed of a 3-hour health-promotion exercise held by trained volunteers. One of the weekly exercise sessions and a consultation session once every six weeks were provided respectively by a physical therapist and a medical doctor. Duration of exercise program was six months. The outcome measures included Barthel Index (BI) for activity of daily living, active range of motion (AROM), Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke Patients (PASS) for postural control and balance function, and home program execution questionnaires. Results: Thirty-one subjects (mean age 73.4±9.9 years, including 8 males and 23 females) completed the program. After six months of regular health-promotion exercise, significant improvements were observed in PASS, AROM and home program execution (p<0.05) but not in BI. The greatest extent of improvement was PASS, followed by home program execution and AROM. Conclusion: Our study indicated that regular, long-term health promotion exercise, provided by community trained volunteers and rehabilitation specialists, may help community elderly improve their performance in PASS, AROM, and home program execution. The results, however, needs to be further verified since our study was conducted in the absence of a control group.