Affiliations: Department of Health Studies and Gerontology,
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada | Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University,
Waterloo, Canada | Victorian Order of Nurses, Ottawa, Canada
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Dr. Paul Stolee, Department of
Health Studies and Gerontology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue
West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1 Canada. Tel.: +1 519 888 4567; Fax: +1 519 888
4362; E-mail: stolee@uwaterloo.ca
Abstract: Objective: Exercise programs have been found to have substantial
benefits for older persons, but implementing these programs with frail
homebound seniors is challenging. The project team aimed to evaluate an in-home
exercise program for older adults – the Victorian Order of Nurses' for
Canada's SMART (Seniors Maintaining Active Roles Together)® (VON
SMART®) In-Home Exercise Program– in which the exercises are led by
trained volunteers. The majority of volunteers were females who exercise
regularly. Over half of the volunteers were 60 years of age or older, and over
half had had prior health or fitness training. Volunteers reported receiving
multiple benefits from performing their role as an exercise leader. Participants: From January to August, 2009, a total of 59
volunteers, seven Site Coordinators, and 33 home-bound older (mean age: 80
years; SD: 8.8) clients from eight VON sites and one partner organization
participated in the evaluation. Methods: Data collection included pre-post quantitative measures of
participants' physical function, satisfaction surveys of participants, follow
up semi-structured interviews of participants, feedback surveys of volunteers
and site coordinators, and a focus group interview of site coordinators. Results: The Chair Stand test (p< 0.001), the Reaching Forward
test (p=0.028), the Activities Balance Confidence Scale (p=0.02), as well as
measures of activities of daily living (ADL) inside the home (p=0.001) and
outside the home (p=0.009) showed significant improvement. Conclusions: This evaluation showed that the exercises improved
participants' strength, flexibility, balance, and ability to perform ADL. This
study provides additional evidence of the benefits of in-home exercise for
frail seniors, and supports a role for volunteers in delivering these programs.
The volunteers reported receiving social benefits of meeting new people, being
able to see the difference they helped make in others, as well as personal
physical benefits from exercising more.
Keywords: Home exercise, volunteers, frail seniors, physical function
