Does functionally based activity make a difference to health status and mobility? A randomised controlled trial in residential care facilities (The Promoting Independent Living Study; PILS)

Objectives: to determine whether a repetitive activities of daily living (ADL) activity programme improves health status, life satisfaction and mobility for older people living in residential care. Design: cluster randomised controlled trial. Setting: five low-level dependency residential care homes in Auckland, New Zealand. Participants: one hundred and forty-nine older residents (mean age 84.7 years). Intervention: trained research staff worked with residents in intervention wards to set a goal and complete a functional assessment for each resident. They then designed an individualised activity programme based on ADL and worked with residential care home staff to implement the programme into daily activities of residents. Measurements: mobility: timed-up-and-go (TUG); life satisfaction: late life satisfaction index (LSI-Z); and health status: SF-36 were assessed at baseline, 3- and 6-months follow-up. Results: in the intervention group the SF-36 total physical component summary (PCS) score improved at 3 months in comparison with the control group. There was no difference between groups on mobility measures at any time, nor any measures at 6-months follow-up. Significant contamination is likely to have affected the 6-month follow-up measures. Conclusions: a repetitive ADL exercise programme may improve health status in the short term in a group of frail older people living in residential care. Further research is needed to establish sustainability of change.