The interplay of physical and social wellbeing in older adults: investigating the relationship between physical training and social interactions with virtual social environments

Abstract

Background. Regular physical activity can substantially improve the physical wellbeing of older adults, preventing several chronic diseases and increasing cognitive performance and mood. However, research has shown that older adults are the most sedentary segment of society, spending much of their time seated or inactive. A variety of barriers make it difficult for older adults to maintain an active lifestyle, including logistical difficulties in going to a gym (for some adults, leaving home can be challenging), reduced functional abilities, and lack of motivation. In this paper, we report on the design and evaluation of Gymcentral. A training application running on tablet was designed to allow older adults to follow a personalized home-based exercise program while being remotely assisted by a coach. The objective of the study was to assess if a virtual gym that enables virtual presence and social interaction is more motivating for training than the same virtual gym without social interaction. Methods. A total of 37 adults aged between 65 and 87 years old (28 females and 9 males, mean age = 71, sd = 5.8) followed a personalized home-based strength and balance training plan for eight weeks. The participants performed the exercises autonomously at home using the Gymcentral application. Participants were assigned to two training groups: the Social group used an application with persuasive and social functionalities, while the Control group used a basic version of the service with no persuasive and social features. We further explored the effects of social facilitation, and in particular of virtual social presence, in user participation to training sessions. Outcome measures were adherence, persistence and co-presence rate. Results. Participants in the Social group attended significantly more exercise sessions than the Control group, providing evidence of a better engagement in the training program. Besides the focus on social persuasion measures, the study also confirms that a virtual gym service is effective for supporting individually tailored home-based physical training for older adults. The study also confirms that social facilitation tools motivate users to train together in a virtual fitness environment. Discussion. The study confirms that Gymcentral increases the participation of older adults in physical training compare to a similar version of the application without

Feasibility of Virtual Tablet-Based Group Exercise Among Older Adults in Siberia: Findings From Two Pilot Trials

“…The bulletin board was also used, although visits were more related to a lurking behavior rather than actual contributions. We attribute this to automatic sharing of the participant’s performance (as a 3-star rating based on completeness) on the bulletin board ( social learning persuasion strategy [12]). The locker room comprises also an important percentage but it is mostly because of the fact that it preceded the classroom in the navigation.…”

“…Both pilot studies were follow-ups to a previous pilot performed in Trento, Italy, and so they follow the same study design [12]. An overview of the study flow in consolidated standards of reporting trials–compliant format is shown in Figures 2 and 3.…”

“…In particular, group-based interventions have shown promising results in long-term settings with higher adherence compared with individual home-based interventions. Studies have also reported a preference by older adults for group exercising [11] and discussed the potential of the social context to stimulate social interactions and increase social well-being [12]. …”

“…Research has also shown a preference by older adults in group training [11,12]. However, implementing group exercising can be challenging, especially in a heterogeneous elderly population, with individual differences leading to motivational issues and problems in tailoring the training [11].…”

“…In our previous study [12,24], we made some steps to test the feasibility of a tool for online group exercising, namely Gymcentral, that allows individual of different levels of fitness to follow exercises with the remote company of others. We conducted an 8-week pilot study exploring the effects of online group exercise training in Trento, Italy, with 37 adults, 65 years and above, who followed the Otago exercise program [25] aiming at strength and balance improvement in older age.…”