The Effects of Visiting Exercise Program and Telecoaching for Physical Activity Promotion on Physical Fitness and Quality of Life in the Frail Elderly

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of visiting exercise program and telecoaching for physical activity promotion on physical fitness such as grip strength, static equilibrium, dynamic equilibrium and quality of life in the frail elderly who are receiving home visiting nursing care. Methods: The subjects were 25 of the control group, 27 of experimental group A (visiting exercise) and 29 of experimental group B (visiting with telecoaching). The visiting exercise program and visiting with telecoaching was carried out 14 times for 24 weeks. The collected data were analyzed by x2 test and ANOVA using SPSS/WIN 17.0 program. Results: After carrying out the program, both experimental group had significantly more improvement in right grip strength (F=10.12, p<.001), dynamic equilibrium (F=8.70, p<.001) and quality of life (F=2.46, p<.001) but there was no significant difference between two experimental groups. Also, there was a significant difference in left grip strength (F=4.08, p=.021) between visiting exercise group and control group. However, the static equilibrium among the groups was not significantly different (F=2.49, p<.089). Conclusion: In this study, the visiting exercise program and visiting with telecoaching for physical activity promotion was effective and safe for the frail elderly who are receiving hom