Ward Lesley, Tew Garry A, Wiley Laura, Rose Fiona, Maturana Palacios Camila S, Bissell Laura, Howsam Jenny, Rapley Tim
Department of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing, Northumbria University, Newcastle uponTyne, UK.
Institute for Health and Care Improvement, York St John University, York, UK.
BMC Geriatr. 2025 Mar 5;25(1):152. doi: 10.1186/s12877-025-05782-3.
Yoga is increasingly practised by older adults, with growing evidence for its safety and effectiveness across a range of health conditions common to the age group. This process evaluation, embedded within a randomised controlled trial of chair-based yoga for older adults with multimorbidity, qualitatively explored participants' perceptions and experiences of the chair-based yoga programme.
One-to-one interviews and class observations were conducted with a subset of trial participants randomised to receive the 12-week chair-based yoga programme. Interview participants were selectively recruited to represent the demographic breadth of the main trial cohort; one yoga class was observed at each delivery site. Interviews were audio recorded, independently transcribed, and analysed according to longitudinal and thematic analysis.
Twenty-five yoga participants were interviewed once (N = 10) or twice (N = 15), providing a 40-interview data set. Participants were aged 66-91 years (mean age 74 years), 56% female (N = 14), predominantly White British (N = 22, 88%), with 2-8 long term health conditions (mean 4.5 conditions). Four interlinked and overarching themes predominated: perceptions of healthy ageing, delineating yoga and exercise, yoga as an adaptable multifaceted health tool, and patterns of ongoing yoga practice. Participants equated acute symptom presentation, not multimorbidity, with illness, and mostly viewed their health as good. They distinguished yoga from exercise based on its integration of the breath with physical movements, which provided a mental focus unfound in other physical activities. Impact of the yoga programme ranged from minimal to transformative, dependent on meaningful biopsychosocial improvements. Accordingly, continuation of yoga beyond the trial ranged from none to full integration as a multifaceted health management tool.
Participant experiences of the yoga programme interlinked views on health, ageing, exercise, and sustainable health management. Yoga presented as a safe, acceptable, and adaptable option for non-pharmacological health management in older adults. Impact on biopsychosocial health was variable, and directly linked to participants' longer term yoga engagement. Education of health professionals and activity providers regarding ageist stereotypes of health and ageing, together with the evidence base for the safety and effectiveness of yoga, could support and broaden yoga's reach and engagement among both older adult and multimorbid cohorts.
ISRCTN ISRCTN13567538. Registered 18 March 2019.
越来越多的老年人开始练习瑜伽，越来越多的证据表明，在该年龄组常见的一系列健康状况中，瑜伽具有安全性和有效性。本过程评估嵌入了一项针对患有多种疾病的老年人的基于椅子的瑜伽随机对照试验中，定性地探讨了参与者对基于椅子的瑜伽计划的看法和体验。
对随机接受为期12周的基于椅子的瑜伽计划的一部分试验参与者进行一对一访谈和课堂观察。访谈参与者经过选择性招募，以代表主要试验队列的人口统计学广度；在每个授课地点观察一节瑜伽课。访谈进行了录音、独立转录，并根据纵向和主题分析进行了分析。
25名瑜伽参与者接受了一次（N = 10）或两次（N = 15）访谈，提供了一个包含40次访谈的数据集。参与者年龄在66至91岁之间（平均年龄74岁），56%为女性（N = 14），主要是英国白人（N = 22，88%），患有2至8种长期健康问题（平均4.5种）。四个相互关联且总体的主题占主导地位：对健康老龄化的看法、区分瑜伽与运动、瑜伽作为一种适应性强的多方面健康工具以及持续瑜伽练习的模式。参与者将急性症状表现而非多种疾病等同于疾病，并且大多认为自己的健康状况良好。他们基于瑜伽将呼吸与身体动作相结合，这提供了其他体育活动中没有的精神专注，从而将瑜伽与运动区分开来。瑜伽计划的影响从最小到变革性不等，这取决于有意义的生物心理社会改善。因此，试验结束后继续练习瑜伽的情况从无人继续到完全融入作为一种多方面的健康管理工具各不相同。
参与者对瑜伽计划的体验将关于健康、衰老、运动和可持续健康管理的观点联系起来。瑜伽是老年人非药物健康管理的一种安全、可接受且适应性强的选择。对生物心理社会健康的影响各不相同，并且与参与者长期参与瑜伽直接相关。对健康专业人员和活动提供者进行关于对健康和衰老的年龄歧视刻板印象的教育，以及关于瑜伽安全性和有效性的证据基础，可以支持并扩大瑜伽在老年人和患有多种疾病的人群中的推广和参与度。
ISRCTN ISRCTN13567538。2019年3月18日注册。
