高齡者智慧老化運動促進系統之建構與應用

Background: In the new era of information technology, learning will not be limited by time and space. Research has shown that the coverage rate of Internet usage for middle -and elder-aged group has risen to 81.5 percent in Taiwan. Therefore, Internet has become the primary means of social networking. Besides the function of phone calling and game playing, application (so called Apps) is also a flourishing feature of smart phones. Maintaining a healthy body through fitness apps is no more a trend only in the young-age group. However, there are only limited studies on elders using health-related applications, and related data and effect analyzed are also lacked. Methods: According to the Complete Exercise Guide for Older Adults, which was edited by ACSM and WHO, this research develops an exercise-promoting application for the elder. This application meets the exercising requirement for elders in the guidebook, and it applies a complete exercise program. In this research, the researcher recruited elder volunteers (>55 years old) who live in Taipei city. The effective sample size is 63. The researcher analyze the sample by using descriptive statistics and paired sample t test (p<.05). Results: 1. This research successfully developed an application, which based on the exercise guide of ACSM. 2. 68% of the attendants of this research are ages higher than 65 years old, and the female proportion of this group is 84%. 2. By using paired sample t test, we find that after using this app for 8 weeks, the elder has a dramatically improvement in functional physical fitness scores, all participants use more than 150 minutes a week in average. Conclusions: Using app videos can really increase the performance of functional fitness for the older adult. However, the frequency of the elders using exercise apps, the relation between exercise length and the benefit of it are still waiting for further research to find out. The result of this research proofs that the elders could improve their health by using exercise app. The researcher suggests that the relevant units could support on the research program of using gadget as exercise assistive device, improve the elders' convenience of learning, and maintain effective long-term self-study habits. In the popularization of technology and the aging society, it is also indispensable to improve our life by using new tech gadgets like smartphone and its apps.