Enabling participation of frail older adults in meaningful leisure activities through the use of compensatory strategies: impact of a pilot intervention

Introduction: Compensatory strategies enable frail seniors to pursue leisure activities despite their disabilities. Due to a lack of knowledge about their existence, many of these strategies are not or rarely used by seniors.... [ view full abstract ]

Introduction: Compensatory strategies enable frail seniors to pursue leisure activities despite their disabilities. Due to a lack of knowledge about their existence, many of these strategies are not or rarely used by seniors. An innovative and personalized intervention has recently been developed to help seniors learn about and use these strategies to facilitate their participation in meaningful leisure activities. This study aims to explore the impact of the intervention on older adults’: 1-knowledge regarding compensatory strategies to help them resume meaningful leisure activities; 2-barriers leading to abandon these activities; 3-re-involvement in leisure activities; and 4-feeling of well-being.

Methods: A pre-experimental study has been conducted. Ten frail community-dwelling seniors (80+) with no significant cognitive impairment were recruited. The intervention consists in: (a) identifying 3 activities that the participant wanted to resume as well as barriers to the practice of each activity; (b) teaching compensatory strategies to overcome barriers. The outcome variables were measured through in-person questionnaires 1 week pre-intervention, as well as 1 and 3 months post-intervention.

Results: Preliminary results suggest a positive effect on improving knowledge, reducing barriers and resuming leisure activities, but a decrease in feelings of well-being

Conclusion: This pilot study generated promising results. A multicenter randomized controlled trial will be conducted to examine the intervention effectiveness and explain the decline noticed in participants’ well-being post-intervention.

Application to practice: This study will contribute to the development of an innovative intervention adapted to the needs of frail seniors, and promote their participation.

*Funding: Québec Network for Research on Aging