TY - JOUR AU - Crandall, K. Jason AU - Shake, Matthew AU - Ziegler, Uta PY - 2019 DA - 2019/07/04 TI - Assessing the Impact of a Game-Centered Mobile App on Community-Dwelling Older Adults’ Health Activation JO - OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine SP - 041 VL - 04 IS - 03 AB - Background: Older adults’ experience normative age-graded declines in physical and cognitive performance and many must manage one or more chronic conditions. Exercise programs can help to improve both their physical health and their knowledge, skill, and confidence in managing aspects of their own healthcare, yet a significant barrier is motivating them to adhere to such programs. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the impact of a game-centered mobile app (Bingocize®) on older adults’ knowledge, skill, and confidence for managing aspects of their healthcare. Methods: Community-dwelling older adults (N=84) with mobility and not engaged in any structured exercise program were recruited from rural community senior centers in Kentucky and Tennessee. Participants were randomly assigned to (a) a version that included health education, or (b) health education and an exercise component. Participants used the app in a group setting for 10 weeks, twice per week, for one hour. The Patient Activation Measure (PAM-10) was used to assess group changes in knowledge, skill, and confidence for managing aspects of their healthcare. The design was a two (Group: Exercise + Health Education vs. Health Education-only) x two (Time: Pre- vs. Post-intervention) and an analyses of variance, with significance p93% in both groups. Conclusion: Bingocize® engendered high attendance and improved health activation of older adults; however, additional research is needed to examine whether changes in activation result in long-term changes in health behavior. The Bingocize® mobile app is an enjoyable and effective way to increase health activation in community-dwelling older adults. SN - 2573-4393 UR - https://doi.org/10.21926/obm.icm.1903041 DO - 10.21926/obm.icm.1903041 ID - Crandall2019 ER -