Institutionen för neurovetenskap och fysiologi
Arbetsterapi
A randomized controlled trial of a community based health promoting and disease
preventive program for elderly Immigrants.
Interventions are needed that target elderly people at risk of facing functional decline,
particularly frail elderly immigrants. Research shows that persons who would probably
benefit most from such interventions are those who have not yet experienced any restrictions
in activity levels. These programmes are not available to elderly immigrants. The aim of this
study is therefore to evaluate
a programme for elderly immigrants from former Yugoslavia. It is hypothesised that if an
intervention is made when the persons are not too frail, it is possible to prevent deterioration.
We want to investigate if an intervention for frail elderly persons can prevent frailty measured
as function, activity, participation and morbidity, have an impact on care consumption and be
cost-effective. It will also record how frail elderly immigrants experience the intervention, its
significance and importance for health, using an explorative and experimental design. The
participants will be randomised to a health-promoting preventive intervention or to a
control group. The study will include 200 randomly selected immigrants from former
Yugoslavia, aged 65 years or older. Follow-up data will be collected at 3 months, 1 year and 2
years. Focus groups and individual interviews will also be conducted to explain the
intervention and its significance.
Research group:
Synneve Dahlin-Ivanoff Professor Occupational Therapy GU,
PhD Anna Duner, Social Work GU,
Professor Geriatrics Sten Landahl GU,
Lena Ziden PhD Physiotherapy GU,
Greta Häggblom-Kronlöf PhD Occupational Therapy GU,
Lisen Dellenborg PhD Social Anthropology, GU.