Nursing Home Residents Benefit from Exercise Program

New study finds that older people living in nursing homes who take part in a daily, organized exercise program gain multiple benefits such as decreased falls risk and less frailty. The findings of the study are published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Also, after the program, there was a lower prevalence of frailty and fewer deaths in the intervention group compared with the control group.

‘Individualized and regular multicomponent exercise at moderate intensity is found to be effective to prevent falls and reduce frailty and mortality.’

The intervention consisted of one-hour supervised group training sessions twice a week for a six-month period and involved individualized strength and balance exercises.

Walking recommendations were also individually tailored in duration and intensity.

"Further research is needed to ascertain whether those who engage in this kind of individualized program ultimately die with better function and lower dependency," the authors wrote.

Source: Eurekalert