Media
(Issued on behalf of HKU Sau Po Centre on Ageing)
The HKU-led GrandMove® Programme: Empowering Elders through Exercise
Press Conference on Research Findings and GrandMove® Exercise Day
24 May 2018
Frailty is a health risk state, in which older persons may experience significant health deterioration when faced with a health challenge.According to an HKU survey of 1,892 community-dwelling olderpersons aged 65 years or above, 40% of older persons are pre-frail and over 10% frail, suggesting it as a very common problem. While frailty is associated with many adverse outcomes, it can be improved by exercise. The question is how to support frail older persons in establishing proper exercising habits and making it part of their everyday life.
In 2015, the Simon K. Y. Lee Elderly Fund made a donation to the Sau Po Centre on Ageing of HKU to initiate the GrandMove® exercise coaching programme for frail elders. Over the past three years, HKU has been empowering 390 elders through exercise coaching and habit formation to reduce frailty, and researching the effects of different exercises. Findings from the research showed significant improvements in the participants' frailty level, with nearly 30% of people returning to a robust level within six months.
Mr. Edwin Lee, Board Member of the Simon K. Y. Lee Foundation, highlighted at the press conference that the psychological and physical health of older persons is their key concern. He reckoned that everyone knows about the benefits of exercising, so the key question is how to help frail older persons participate actively. The Foundation is connecting academia, NGOs, retirees and older persons in this project to join efforts against frailty, with the hope that the impact of this network would grow in the community, to help older persons to lead a healthier life. In the long run, "The Foundation would actively discuss with the Government about the possibility of including the project into routine service, making GrandMove® part of the community, so that our older persons can become more aware of their own health and establish exercising habit," said Mr Lee.
Professor Terry Lum, GrandMove® Project Director and Head of the Department of Social Work and Social Administration, HKU, considered the central role of older persons a key factor for the programme's effectiveness. "By engaging retirees as exercise coaches, we are encouraging our older persons to learn from their peers, to realise that getting older doesn't mean being frail." The project's title, GrandMove, represents an attempt to rebut myths of ageing, raising awareness that old age can be a life stage full of vigor and energy. "We combine concepts of 'productive ageing' and 'healthy ageing' to empower older persons and their community in getting in charge of their health and independent living. In the project, older persons are not passive recipients of services. This is a unique project feature that sets it apart from other exercising or health programmes," Professor Lumexplained.
Dr. Gloria Wong, Project Co-Principal Investigator and Assistant Professor of the Department of Social Work and Social Administration, HKU, found that there is a significant improvement in the quality of life among the participants, on top of their improved frailty. "When we compare the effects of resistance exercise, aerobic exercise, and health talks, improvement in quality of life was observed with both resistance and aerobic exercise," Dr Wong noted. "If the goal is to prevent frailty in pre-frail elders, resistance exercise is more effective. But if the goal is to improve daily functioning in frail elders, then health talks seem to be more helpful." The randomised controlled trial is designed with different exercises and frailty levels, allowing direct comparison of effectiveness. "We can conclude that for those who are still in a prefrail state, resistance exercise with enough intensity should be recommended to improve the problem. For those who are already in a frail state, a trial of health talk may be beneficial, to allow better functioning and experience of improvement, followed by resistance and/or aerobic exercise for improving quality of life," suggested Dr Wong.
Dr. Michael Tse, Project Co-Investigators and Assistant Director of the Centre for Sports and Exercise, HKU, and Ms Chi Wah Lau, exercise specialist of the project, explained at the press conference how the GrandMove® exercise protocols were designed to target frailty. "The two exercise protocols have five levels each, allowing older persons to progress according to their physical condition. This is the key in physical fitness: as our muscle strength and cardiorespiratory function improves, we need to adjust the training level to progress further." The exercises also need to be easy to learn, and without requiring special equipment, to avoid imposing barriers for older persons. "To balance all these considerations, we adopted protocols that involve low risks, high potential for improvement, or self-monitoring techniques that can be managed by older persons. And of course we rely on our GrandMove® coaches heavily on top of having a well-designed protocol," said Ms Lau.
At the press conference, GrandMove® Exercise Coach and service recipient Mr Ng and Mr Wong demonstrated some exercise moves. "The exercise is quite different from what I used to do; it is more intensive and more frequent," said Mr Wong. Before joining the programme, he needed to use a tripod walking stick because of unsteady gait. Now he only uses a regular walking stick - which is a special gift from Mr Ng upon programme completion. Mr Wong did not stop after completing the programme; he continues to exercise with his neighbours by what Mr Ng has taught him. This has become part of his daily routine. As Mr Ng has expressed, he has returned to work after retirement to help those in need, while he still can. From Mr Wong and other frail older persons, he has found new meaning in life, and better understanding towards health and life. "Now I would spend more time to care for people around me, especially older persons, as I realized how many of them are in need of encouragement and support," said Mr Ng.
A GrandMove® Exercise day was held in the afternoon at the Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong - Wu Kwai Sha Youth Village, with 400 service recipients and GrandMove® coaches participated. The event was officiated by Professor Sophia Chan, JP, Secretary for Food and Health, HKSAR Government; Dr. Lam Ching-choi, BBS, JP, Chairman of Elderly Commission, HKSAR Government and Advisory Committee of the Simon K.Y. Lee Foundation; and Mrs Mabel Lee, Board Member of the Simon K.Y. Lee Foundation. The opening race and games showcased the exercise outcomes of the older persons. "Since the launch of the project there has been a lot of enthusiasm. The number of participating organizations keeps growing, and we have been receiving enquiries from the public. While the Exercise Day marks the end of the pilot phase, it is also the beginning of our work to further promote and disseminate the GrandMove® model," remarked Professor Lum. "We are planning our next steps to get in touch with more older persons, empowering them to take charge of their own health," said Mr Lee.
For media enquiries, please contact Ms. Rachel Lam, Executive Officer, Sau Po Centre on Ageing, HKU (Tel: 3917 1756 / 2831 5210; E-mail: firachel@hku.hk)
About GrandMove®
Project GrandMove® was launched in 2015 with an aim to establish a structured exercise intervention programme that includes both aerobics and resistance exercises to alleviate frailty among Hong Kong's ageing population and promote lifestyle changes for elders to add exercises as part of their habits, while training young-olds as exercise coaches to promote healthy and active ageing. GrandMove® is funded by Simon K.Y. Lee Foundation, and is led by Professor Terry Lum, Professor and Head of Department of Social Work and Social Administration at HKU, and Dr. Gloria Wong, Assistant Professor of the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at HKU. GrandMove® is also jointly organized by the Centre for Sports and Exercise of HKU, Institute of Active Ageing of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and 14 NGOs at community level, benefiting 390 frail and pre-frail elders and trained over 70 young-olds to become exercise coaches. Due to the great demand, the project has been extended to day care centres and residential care facilities. The project is named "GrandMove®" to rebut the myth that ageing means becoming frail, raising public awareness that old age can be a life stage that is full of vigor and energy. The project philosophy combined concepts of "productive ageing" and "healthy ageing", to empower older persons and their community in getting in charge of their own health and independent living.
Project Objectives
1. To develop a structured exercise programme tailored for older persons in Hong Kong
2. To develop a training programme for retirees to engage in productive ageing as coaches
3. To empower older persons in taking control of their health by improving health literacy
4. To improve older person's lifestyle habit through gerontological and psychological principles
5. To generate evidence on the effectiveness of exercise programme in frail Chinese older persons
Project Website: www.ageing.hku.hk/grandmove
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/hkgrandmove/
Mr Wong, Service Recipient of GrandMove® expressed that his body functioning and quality of life had been significantly improved after joining the programme.
(From left): Dr Gloria Wong (Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work and Social Administration, HKU); Mrs. Mabel Lee (Board Member, Simon K. Y. Lee Foundation) (Guest of Honour); Mr Edwin Lee (Board Member, Simon K. Y. Lee Foundation); Professor Sophia Chan, JP (Secretary for Food and Health, The Government of the HKSAR) (Guest of Honour); Dr Lam Ching-choi, BBS, JP (Chairman, Elderly Commission, The Government of the HKSAR; Advisory Committee, Simon K. Y. Lee Foundation) (Guest of Honour); Professor Terry Lum (Head, Department of Social Work and Social Administration, HKU); Mr Philip Lee (Board Member, Simon K. Y. Lee Foundation) and Dr Michael Tse (Assistant Director, Centre for Sports and Exercise, HKU) kicked off the GrandMove® Exercise Day.