Self-perceived health status and sleep quality of older adults living in community after elastic band exercises.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To test the effectiveness of a six-month senior elastic band exercise programme on the self-perceived health status and sleep quality of older adults living in community settings.

BACKGROUND: Health issues common among older adults living in community settings include poor physical and mental health conditions and sleep quality. Engagement in appropriate exercise programmes facilitates alleviating these health issues among older adults.

DESIGN: A quasi-experimental design was applied. A convenience sample of older adults was drawn from six senior-citizen activity centres in southern Taiwan. Participants were assigned to either an experimental group (three centres, n = 97) or a control group (three centres, n = 102) based on the senior-citizen activity centres they attended.

METHODS: The participants in the experimental group carried out the Senior Elastic Band exercise programme for six months (three times per week and 40 minutes per session) in addition to their daily activities. The participants in the control group maintained their daily activities. The participants' self-perceived health status and sleep quality were examined at the baseline, three-month interval and six-month interval.

RESULTS: In total, 169 participants completed the six-month study: 84 constituted the experimental group and 85 constituted the control group. At the three-month interval, the participants in the experimental group had greater improvements in self-perceived physical health, overall sleep quality, sleep latency and sleep duration compared with those in the control group; these significant changes continued throughout the six-month study.

CONCLUSIONS: The Senior Elastic Band exercise programme showed promising effects in improving the self-perceived physical health and sleep quality of older adults living in community settings.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Healthcare professionals can incorporate the Senior Elastic Band exercise programme as one of the health promotion activities for older adults living in community settings.