Here’s a no-brainer that many people forget about.  I once did a quality visit with one of our clients.  H ewas losing strength in his legs because of inactivity.  There was a nice exercise bicycle in the spare bedroom, but it was never used.  Working with the caregiver, we moved the bike into the living room and set it directly in front of his television – this senior’s primary means of entertainment.  Now the senior is reminded, every time he desires to watch television, to get up and exercise while enjoying his favorute pasttime.

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Through the yearlong Community Health Advice by Telephone (CHAT) study, researchers at Stanford University found that regular telephone calls delivered from either live health educators or by an automated computer system successfully prodded inactive adults into a regular exercise program (for more information on the study, see the news release posted on the Stanford Web site at http://med.stanford.edu/news_releases/2007/december/chat.html.) 

The goal was to get participants out walking at a brisk pace for 30 minutes most days of the week, or doing some other form of medium-intensity physical activity for about 150 minutes a week.  Participants who received human voice calls averaged 178 minutes of exercise a week, as compared with 157 minutes per week for the group that received computer calls, and 118 minutes for the control group (which was not called at all). 

So, this is yet another piece of research that underscores the importance of CAREGivers supporting clients who are pursuing physical-fitness regimens.  For one, note that the personal exercise reminders were even more effective than computer-generated ones.  This means that while technology does indeed have its place in helping seniors (and others) maintain their health and quality of life, there’s absolutely no substitute for the “human touch” provided by concerned individuals such as Home Instead CAREGivers.

In addition, CAREGivers can even go one step further here by not just reminding clients to exercise, but also by actually participating with them in fitness-related activities.

Here is a sample from the study:

“STANFORD, Calif. — Computer-generated phone calls may be an effective, low-cost way to encourage sedentary adults to exercise, according to a recent study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.Results of the yearlong study found that regular telephone calls delivered from either live health educators or by an automated computer system successfully prodded inactive adults into a regular 150-minute per week exercise program.

What most surprised researchers was that the computer calls were almost as effective as the calls by a real person.

“This is the first study to directly compare the efficacy of a physical activity program delivered by a computer versus humans and found them to work similarly well,” said lead author Abby King, PhD, professor of health research and policy and a senior investigator at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. “Theoretically, it could be delivered to anybody around the country or around the world, and could save time and money.The study is published in the current issue of the journal Health Psychology. Many of the 218 San Francisco Bay Area adults over the age of 55 who participated in the study, referred to as the Community Health Advice by Telephone or CHAT, insisted at the start that they would need a live human voice to be successful, King said.

“Everybody got a chance to listen to the computer program so they knew what it sounded like before we started,” King said. “About 80 to 85 percent told us that they preferred or needed a human.”

But this didn’t prove to be true. In fact, researchers noted that participants who lacked confidence initially in their ability to increase their physical activity levels and who also felt less comfortable interacting with people generally did better overall when they didn’t have to talk to a human.

“We were thrilled that at six months the results were identical between the two groups. By 12 months, there was still virtually no difference. The bottom line is that people tend to prefer what they know. That doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the best program for them.”

The goal was to get participants out walking at a brisk pace for 30 minutes most days of the week, or some other form of medium-intensity physical activity, for about 150 minutes a week, as recommended by the U.S. Surgeon General. They were divided into three groups: a control group that didn’t get calls, a group called by trained health educators and a group called by a computer delivering an interactive, individualized program similar to that being delivered by the health educators. Exercise levels were measured with the use of an accelerometer, which provides an estimate of physical activity amount as well as intensity.

To read the full study, click here.