Introduction
Scientific studies have revealed that older people who are actively involved in physical exercise have lower chances of suffering from some of the common forms of physical limitations associated with the aging population. Thus, the need for physical activity programme as a comprehensive intervention strategy aimed at minimising functional limitations among the elderly. Physical activity helps in fighting health problems such as obesity, kidney problems, coronary diseases, and many other chronic diseases (Leifer & Fleck, 2013). One’s lifestyle at this old age will define some of the physical limitation one would face in life. When a comprehensive physical exercise programme is rolled out for potential victims of functional limitation, the intervention plan may play a significant role in addressing this common health care concern.
Intervention Plan
The proposed intervention plan will involve incorporation of a physical exercise and lifestyle change among the elderly as strategy to either full recovery of the current patients or reduction of new cases of physical limitation. The intervention plan will be integrated within the health belief model. According to Dixey (2012), the health belief model is “a psychological model that attempts to explain and predict health behaviours” (Dixey, 2012, p. 16). This theory holds that one’s belief and attitudes will always define one’s actions towards a given health activity. Wylie and Holt (2010) note that “the model suggests that people’s beliefs about health problems; perceived benefits of action and barriers to action explain engagement in health-promoting behaviour” (Wylie and Holt, 2010, p. 58). This means that a person will be more engaged in a health promoting behaviour if they belief that in so doing, they shall benefit.
The intervention plan will simply incorporate direct and continuous physical exercise to the elderly person besides a healthy lifestyle education. Each potential victim of functional limitation will be enrolled in a physical exercise programme, which will be tailored to meet the demands of home-care patients. The healthy lifestyle education will be operated concurrently. When the response rate is recorded at 70%, the programme will be declared successful. Besides, the evaluation will be based on recorded number of new cases of physical limitation. When the number drops by 50%, the programme will be declared successful and rolled out to other regions (Lundy & Janes, 2009).
Potential formative and summative approaches to the evaluation
In order to successfully implement the proposed physical exercise as an intervention programme for the elderly in the community, the main resources required will include community assessment data, relevant nursing support kit, authority consent document, and human volunteer personnel. The topics to be discussed include prevalence of physical limitation, effective home-base strategies, relevant emotional and physical support, and success measurement mechanisms. These resources will be significant in planning, execution, and assessment of the proposed intervention programme (McKenzie, Neiger, & Thackeray, 2009). The potential approaches to evaluation are summarized below.
Nursing intervention and diet evaluation
The nurse should ensure that the diet of the patient has high carbohydrate content, relatively low protein, and adequate fats since high fat and carbohydrate calories from metabolism does not support the creation of energy from proteins. This ensures that any available protein is reserved for repair of damaged tissues. This intervention plan will be evaluated through an inclusive process of clinical testing of the patients after every two months of enrolment in the programme (Winnick, Lucas, Hartman, & Toll, 2005). When the success rate is recorded above 40%, the programme will be declared successful as subsequent tests are likely to improve when the plan continuous over five months.
Examining the success of the physical exercise teaching plan
Explaining each stage of treatment and intervention to the patients may greatly reduce any anxiety the patient is experiencing. The patient may be advice on the types of exercise to do and the frequency of each exercise. The last element that may be covered is lessons on prevention of infections and healthy lifestyle to minimize chances of recurrence of physical limitation after recovery (Dixey, 2012). The success of this intervention plan will be measured on the basis of the number of attendees and testimonies of improvement. Once the attendees surpass 50, the programme will be declared successful since this number has the potential of convincing their peers to enrol for the same programme.
Evaluation plan
It is apparent that wellness programmes are critical in the physical limitation reduction. However, some of the targeted clients may have divergent opinion on their effectiveness, noting that most of these programmes have inappropriate methodology of delivery. Therefore, the evaluation plan will function on holistic client-nurse interaction to ensure that trust and sincerity controls the outcomes. The evaluation plan is summarized in below.
Inputs
The inputs will include the training venue, community approval, setting of training days and training time, trainers/tutors, evaluation and grading criteria, and appropriate facilities/equipments. Besides, the inputs will incorporate feedback from previous training.
Process
The evaluation process will be measured in terms of the effectiveness of the Wellness Training Programme in the form of physical exercise and nutrition coaching.
Outputs
The output will be measured in terms of improved physical functioning, self development, and enhanced metabolic and organ functioning.
References
Dixey, R. (2012). Health promotion: Global principles and practice. Wallingford, Wa: CABI.
Leifer, G., & Fleck, E. (2013). Growth and development across the lifespan: A health promotion focus. St. Louis, Mo: Elsevier.
Lundy, S., & Janes, S. (2009). Community Health Nursing: Caring for the Public’s Health (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
McKenzie, J., Neiger, B., & Thackeray, R. (2009). Planning, Implementing, & Evaluating Health Promotion Programs (5th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Winnick, S., Lucas, D.O., Hartman, A.L., & Toll, D. (2005). How do you improve compliance? Pediatrics, 115 (6), 718-724.
Wylie, A., & Holt, T. (2010). Health promotion in medical education: From rhetoric to action. Oxford: Radcliffe.