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Increasing physical activity in older adults using STARFISH, an interactive smartphone application (app); a pilot study

BACKGROUND: Increasing physical activity in older adults has preventative and therapeutic health benefits. We have developed STARFISH, a smartphone application, to increase physical activity. This paper describes the features of STARFISH, presents the views of older users on the acceptability and us...

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Autores principales: Paul, Lorna, Brewster, Stephen, Wyke, Sally, McFadyen, Angus K, Sattar, Naveed, Gill, Jason MR, Dybus, Aleksandra, Gray, Cindy M
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: SAGE Publications 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6453053/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31186925
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2055668317696236
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author Paul, Lorna
Brewster, Stephen
Wyke, Sally
McFadyen, Angus K
Sattar, Naveed
Gill, Jason MR
Dybus, Aleksandra
Gray, Cindy M
author_facet Paul, Lorna
Brewster, Stephen
Wyke, Sally
McFadyen, Angus K
Sattar, Naveed
Gill, Jason MR
Dybus, Aleksandra
Gray, Cindy M
author_sort Paul, Lorna
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Increasing physical activity in older adults has preventative and therapeutic health benefits. We have developed STARFISH, a smartphone application, to increase physical activity. This paper describes the features of STARFISH, presents the views of older users on the acceptability and usability of the app and reports the results of a six week pilot study of the STARFISH app in older adults. METHODS: The operationalisation of the behaviour change techniques (BCTs) within the STARFISH app was mapped against the BCT Taxonomy of Michie et al. Sixteen healthy older adults (eight women and eight men; age 71.1 ± 5.2 years) used the app, in groups of four, for six weeks. Focus groups explored the user experience and objective measure of steps per day recorded. RESULTS: Participants were very positive about using the STARFISH app, in particular the embedded BCTs of self-monitoring, feedback and social support (in the form of group rewards). Objective step data, available for eight participants, showed that step counts increased by an average of 14% (p = 0.077, d = 0.56). CONCLUSION: The STARFISH app was acceptable and straightforward to use for older adults. STARFISH has potential to increase physical activity in older adults; however, a fully powered randomised controlled trial is required.
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spelling pubmed-64530532019-06-11 Increasing physical activity in older adults using STARFISH, an interactive smartphone application (app); a pilot study Paul, Lorna Brewster, Stephen Wyke, Sally McFadyen, Angus K Sattar, Naveed Gill, Jason MR Dybus, Aleksandra Gray, Cindy M J Rehabil Assist Technol Eng Special Collection: Technology for Supporting Older People at Home BACKGROUND: Increasing physical activity in older adults has preventative and therapeutic health benefits. We have developed STARFISH, a smartphone application, to increase physical activity. This paper describes the features of STARFISH, presents the views of older users on the acceptability and usability of the app and reports the results of a six week pilot study of the STARFISH app in older adults. METHODS: The operationalisation of the behaviour change techniques (BCTs) within the STARFISH app was mapped against the BCT Taxonomy of Michie et al. Sixteen healthy older adults (eight women and eight men; age 71.1 ± 5.2 years) used the app, in groups of four, for six weeks. Focus groups explored the user experience and objective measure of steps per day recorded. RESULTS: Participants were very positive about using the STARFISH app, in particular the embedded BCTs of self-monitoring, feedback and social support (in the form of group rewards). Objective step data, available for eight participants, showed that step counts increased by an average of 14% (p = 0.077, d = 0.56). CONCLUSION: The STARFISH app was acceptable and straightforward to use for older adults. STARFISH has potential to increase physical activity in older adults; however, a fully powered randomised controlled trial is required. SAGE Publications 2017-04-05 /pmc/articles/PMC6453053/ /pubmed/31186925 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2055668317696236 Text en © The Author(s) 2017 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
spellingShingle Special Collection: Technology for Supporting Older People at Home
Paul, Lorna
Brewster, Stephen
Wyke, Sally
McFadyen, Angus K
Sattar, Naveed
Gill, Jason MR
Dybus, Aleksandra
Gray, Cindy M
Increasing physical activity in older adults using STARFISH, an interactive smartphone application (app); a pilot study
title Increasing physical activity in older adults using STARFISH, an interactive smartphone application (app); a pilot study
title_full Increasing physical activity in older adults using STARFISH, an interactive smartphone application (app); a pilot study
title_fullStr Increasing physical activity in older adults using STARFISH, an interactive smartphone application (app); a pilot study
title_full_unstemmed Increasing physical activity in older adults using STARFISH, an interactive smartphone application (app); a pilot study
title_short Increasing physical activity in older adults using STARFISH, an interactive smartphone application (app); a pilot study
title_sort increasing physical activity in older adults using starfish, an interactive smartphone application (app); a pilot study
topic Special Collection: Technology for Supporting Older People at Home
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6453053/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31186925
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2055668317696236
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