Culturally tailored group Qigong exercise in older Chinese immigrants: A feasibility study


Author: Jianghong Liu1, Isabelle Kowal2, Yi Yang2, Yuting Zhu2, Sicheng Chen2, Adriana Perez2, Hengyi Rao2, Chinese Older Adult Qigong Exercise Group2

Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> School of Nursing and Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States. Electronic address: jhliu@nursing.upenn.edu.

<sup>2</sup> School of Nursing and Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, United States.
Conference/Journal: Geriatr Nurs
Date published: 2023 Apr 4
Other:
 Volume ID: 51   ,  Pages: 245-252   ,  Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.gerinurse.2023.03.021.   ,  Word Count: 159  
    Background:

Culturally tailored group exercise bridges health disparities among new immigrants, particularly older adults. We designed a Chinese Qigong (Baduanjin) exercise intervention testing the feasibility and acceptability among older Chinese at a senior daycare center in Philadelphia, PA, US.



Methods:

10-week Qigong group in-person exercise was delivered 5 days a week, using a 12-minute video tutorial under trained research assistants' guidance. Daily attendance and attrition was recorded. Participants completed baseline self-report assessments on physical and mental health, and two computerized cognitive tests, the psychomotor vigilance test and a memory test.



Results:

53 older adults participated (mean age: 78, female: 88.7%). Average daily attendance was 65.28%. Stratification analysis on age groups <80 and ≥80 shows no significant differences on key variables.



Conclusions:

Recruitment for Baduanjin Qigong exercise was feasible in senior daycare centers, and older adults could easily learn and safely follow exercise movements. Preliminarily findings call for further research.



Keywords: Baduanjin; Behavior; Chinese older adults; Cognition; Culturally-tailored qigong; Group exercise; Sleep.



PMID: 37023684 DOI: 10.1016/j.gerinurse.2023.03.021