Out now: Study toolkit for (digital) tailored exercise
21-06-2020
Despite the COVID-19 situation, the BAAT study into customized (digital) exercise has continued to develop. A special toolkit has been created, which is now being used in a pilot study - from a distance - for investigating the needs and preferences around physical and digital exercise with elderly people (65+).
It contains a flyer with tips and tricks for moving and being active (also digitally). This includes various froms of (physical) exercises and training, digital tips such as an instruction for video calling, and a tutorial for a face mask as an activity to move more safely.
In addition, the kit contains a specially designed activities diary 'One week in the life of ...' with additional activity cards. Digital Life designed and composed the kit under the supervision of Dr Marije Kanis with students of Designing User Research and the Research group Exercise Therapy.
The problem
In order to be able to provide suitable exercise advice for each individual elderly person, it is necessary to weigh up everyone's needs and possibilities. There are various groups of elderly people, each with their own needs, preferences, living situation, limitations and motivations. An exercise advice specifically aimed at the elderly in general does not suit all elderly people and every situation. For example, in a recent survey, we see that older people have started to move differently in these different times of corona.
In order to be able to offer good advice, an overview is needed of what kind of exercise activities are possible and desirable. And to what extent and how a (creative) digital solution can support this.
We planned co-creative sessions with the target group to identify needs and solutions together. But now, with the current COVID-19 situation, we had to work in a different way - remotely - and we have developed a special method.
One week in the life of...
With this method, a selection of people over 65 received a kit consisting of the following parts: a designed diary, a pen, activity cards, a folder with an overview of interesting exercise activities, video bubble instruction and a fitness elastic. This kit has been sent to the elderly and they will return it at the end of the week.
The elderly can use this to keep a diary for a week. The days of the week and the date can be entered at the top of the relevant page. Every day there is a standard number of questions that the older person is asked to answer at the end of the day, this is a kind of reflection of the day. It is also the intention that the elderly add activities to the diary during the day.
Because it is not possible to estimate how much the elderly do in a day and one probably does more than the other, it was decided to also design activity cards. This together with the journal should be a summary of what participants do in daily life. Each time they do an activity, they take out such a card, fill it in, circle the felt emotion and add it to the day in question. The tickets already have categories for which they only have to fill in the specific activity.
Why this research method
By having several elderly people fill in a diary, or a journal, during the week, it is possible to get a good picture of their daily life from a distance. This provides a more complete picture of what the target group will do in a day and the context in which the solution will be located.
Some of the over-65s indicated in a previous survey that they find it difficult to imagine what digital and physical activities can look like and how technology can help. The idea is that the activities, tips and tricks in the kit may inspire you to come up with creative solutions remotely.