Acupunch Exercise Program Development and Feasibility Evaluation for Older Adults

Abstract

Purpose 

The aim of the study was to develop the Healthy Beat Acupunch (HBA) exercise program and evaluate its feasibility for community older adults.

Design 

Stage I: The Delphi technique was used to consult 16 experts to develop the program. Stage II: A preexperimental, one-group, posttest-only design was used to pilot-test the program feasibility with 31 older adults.

Methods 

After 4 weeks of interventions, participants evaluated the program based on four criteria (simplicity, safety, suitability, and helpfulness) and responded to five open-ended questions.

Findings 

The developed HBA program from Stage I includes three phases with 24 motions and takes 40 minutes to complete. Program feasibility in Stage II showed average scores ranged from 8.84 ± 1.32 to 9.97 ± 0.18.

Conclusion 

Both experts and elderly participants confirmed that the HBA program was simple, safe, suitable, and helpful to older adults.

Clinical Relevance 

The HBA program provides older adults with a new set of exercise options.

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