With elevated awareness and concerns of infectious diseases such as COVID-19, the importance of overall health and wellbeing has been highlighted. Researchers reported that physical activity is particularly pertinent to COVID-19, as active lifestyle enhances immune function and reduces inflammation. Strengthening the immune system makes individuals less susceptible to infections and reduces the severity of infections. Daily physical activity reduces high blood pressure, weight, and the risks of diabetes and heart disease, which are all increased risk factors of infectious diseases. Another concern raised during the pandemic was the increased amount of sedentary behavior due to quarantine and isolation. More than 25% of older adults did not maintain the same intensity of physical activity including many individuals with underlying health conditions. As the new normal becomes to stay at home and away from others, many older adults experienced significant social isolation. Researchers already warned the depth of the impact on the reduced social participation since older adults who are isolated and lonely are at risk for depression, cognitive dysfunction, disability, and increased mortality.
Nudging particularly vulnerable individuals such as minority older adults to increase their physical activity and develop long-term habits and a lifestyle of physical activity may have critical significance on their ability to avoid and recover from disease, as their immune system appears to be improved with physically active life habits such as moderately intense walks. In light of COVID-19, the CDC lists several guidelines for community organizations to assist with underserved racial and ethnic minority communities to educate and to provide free or low-cost services. Health interventions adopted for local contexts and community cultures appear to be more effective than conventional approaches based on education and training. The research team aims to provide a channel of facilitating community-level networks and engagement as well as activity resources that would directly influence older adults to promote their physical activity and social participation, which may buffer from chronic and infectious diseases.
Overall study will be conducted as follows:
Participant Information – Senior Fit (uta.edu) Recruit eligible participants for study
Initial Baseline Test – Senior Fit (uta.edu) Measure physical and psychological performance
Phase I Intervention – Senior Fit (uta.edu) Preliminary study to develop an app
Phase II Intervention – Senior Fit (uta.edu) App try out and refinement
The team will assess physical performance levels before and after the interventions. We will measure the changes for-
- Sedentary behavior
- Physical functions
- Geriatric physical performance
using a self-report survey, a lab-based assessment, and an individual interview.
Comparing the changes in health outcomes using hypothesis testing and advanced machine learning modeling, the team will quantify the complex human behaviors induced by enhanced technological and conventional behavioral strategies. The team also will use qualitative assessments from interviews to evaluate the overall experience with the app (e.g., feasibility, usability) and the perceived effectiveness of the developed strategies to understand human-technology interactions for older adults. Data will be collected either over the phone or in-person, depending on their preference/ CDC guidelines during the pandemic.