TEAMS

Physiotherapists and dieticians play a central role in the treatment of vulnerable, often malnourished elderly people. The exercise guidelines provide direction for a possible treatment programme, but are often not appropriate. The elderly population is characterised by large individual differences in health. There is considerable variation in physical condition (low muscle strength, imbalance), mental condition (exercise anxiety, cognitive ability), nutritional status (malnutrition), and comorbidity (sarcopenia, diabetes, heart disease).

Examples of practical questions are:

How much exercise can a 79-year-old woman with diabetes and low muscle strength who has just fallen take?
Can an 85-year-old malnourished man exercise? And how much exercise?
What is the optimal amount of exercise for someone who is well nourished?

This research is being conducted by the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.

Aim

The outcome of this project is an evidence-based and tailor-made training guideline for the heterogeneous elderly population. This provides physiotherapists and dieticians with insights and tools for effective tailor-made training, taking into account physical condition, mental state, nutritional status and health status. The aim is to improve the physical functioning and self-reliance of the elderly population.

Objectives

In the current project, we are investigating which training load is most effective for the physical functioning and self-reliance of vulnerable elderly people. In doing so, we are answering the following sub-questions:

What is the most effective training load in daily practice for the physical functioning and self-reliance of vulnerable elderly people?
With adequate protein intake, what is the most effective training load for the physical functioning and self-reliance of vulnerable elderly people?
Which personal characteristics influence the training load for vulnerable elderly people?

Methods

The project team uses a randomised human intervention method.

300 elderly people are divided according to exercise intensity and nutritional intervention.
The exercise intervention consists of a 12-week training programme in which elderly people train at different intensities.
Part of the group (n=200) is offered a nutritional programme.

The primary outcome measure is maximum muscle strength measured using the 1RM. In addition, researchers are conducting various measurements to gain insight into the role of personal characteristics on the training load of vulnerable elderly people.