Mobility Decline Prevention
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Modules - Mobility Decline Prevention
A Walking Program for Nursing Home Residents: Effects on Walk Endurance, Physical Activity, Mobility, and Quality of Life
Priscilla G. MacRae, Leslie A. Asplund, John F. Schnelle, Joseph G. Ouslander, Allan Abrahmse, and Celee Morris, 1996, in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society; 44:175-180.
Can a walking program help deconditioned, cognitively impaired but ambulatory residents increase their mobility, endurance, and physical activity levels? The delayed intervention trial reported in this article found mixed results. The study compared 19 residents in one nursing home who participated in a 12-week walking program to 15 residents in a second nursing home who received social visits as a control measure. Afterwards, all study subjects were offered the opportunity to complete a 22-week walking program. The 12-week program of daily walking at a self-selected pace produced significant improvements in walk endurance capacity, but no changes in physical activity levels throughout the day, mobility, or quality of life. At the same time, there were no negative side effects such as increases in falls or cardiovascular complications attributed to the walking program. Lengthening the program to 22 weeks produced no further significant changes in any outcome measures.
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