Occupation-focused interventions for well older people: an exploratory randomized controlled trial

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Occupational Therapy
• Public Health

Background:

• Aging populations require interventions to maintain quality of life.
• Leisure engagement and activities of daily living (ADL) are crucial for well-being in older adults.
• Occupation-focused approaches can address age-related activity restrictions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate three occupation-focused interventions for well older adults.
• To estimate effect sizes for leisure engagement and ADL.
• To identify the most effective interventions for enhancing occupational engagement.

Main Methods:

• Exploratory randomized controlled trial (RCT) with 177 participants (77-82 years old).
• Randomization to control, individual, activity, or discussion groups.
• Rasch measurement methods and Cohen's d for analyzing leisure engagement and ADL outcomes at baseline, 3, and 12 months.

Main Results:

• All groups experienced a decline in leisure engagement and ADL over time.
• Individual and discussion group interventions showed a modest effect in minimizing this decline.
• Calculated effect sizes for the interventions were small.

Conclusions:

• Occupation-focused interventions show potential for mitigating age-related declines in leisure and ADL.
• Findings suggest these interventions warrant further investigation.
• The study highlights the promise of occupation-focused strategies in geriatric care.