Programme Evaluation on Effectiveness of The Use of Movement-based x 'Elderspirituality - Fu Le Mun Sum' Intervention to Support Elderly People With Depressive Symptoms

Depression is one of the most common mood disorders in old age, and yet it is frequently under-detected and under-treated. Adopting a train-the-trainer approach, this project intends to utilize the dance movement therapy (DMT), as intervention, to support elderly people with depressive symptoms.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Depression in Old Age
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Dance Movement Therapy (DMT)

Detailed Description

In the present project, two evaluation studies will be conducted. The first study will evaluate the effectiveness of a train-the-trainer approach provided to frontline art development officers who will subsequently conduct interventions for the elderly. A participatory train-the-trainer approach will be adopted to develop a new intervention protocol by integrating body-movement therapeutic elements and a spiritual well-being enhancement group. In the second study, a quasi-experimental design will be adopted to examine the effectiveness of the Movement-based x 'Elderspirituality - Fu Le Mun Sum' intervention to support elderly people with depressive symptoms.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 135
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Vivian W. Q. Lou, PhD; Phone Number: 2831-5334/3917-4835; Email: wlou@hku.hk

Study Locations

• Hong Kong
  • Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 999777
    • Sau Po Centre on Ageing

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 58 years to 93 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• aged 60 or above
• physical mobility of at least the limbs and body
• sufficient visual and auditory abilities to complete assessments
• with a clinical diagnosis of depression or with depressive symptoms (measured as the sum of 4 dichotomous items of the Geriatric Depression Scale)

Exclusion Criteria:

- a clinical diagnosis of severe illness that led to neurological deficits which limits the participation during the intervention

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention group; It is proposed to have 70 participants who meet the inclusion criteria in the intervention group. Dance movement therapy will be delivered as an intervention, which consists of six sessions: (1) Movement for Self-expression, (2) Movement for Emotional Health I, (3) Movement for Emotional Health II, (4) Movement for Connection & Creativity, (5) Embracing your Dancing Child, and (6) Movement for Self-compassion.	Behavioral: Dance Movement Therapy (DMT); The main Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) methods were dance-movement improvisations, body awareness exercises, and reflection through drawing/painting, writing, and verbalization. There was an orientation to personal space and body awareness, interaction in pairs, and interaction in the whole group. The themes included exploration of boundaries, somatic resources, symbols, pleasant and unpleasant emotions, mindfulness, and body awareness, enriched movement experiences, and safety and touch. In the present study, it consists of six sessions, including (1) Movement for Self-expression, (2) Movement for Emotional Health I, (3) Movement for Emotional Health II, (4) Movement for Connection & Creativity, (5) Embracing your Dancing Child, and (6) Movement for Self-compassion.
No Intervention: Active control group; It is proposed to have 70 participants who meet the inclusion criteria in the active control group. Health talk will be delivered to participants which will match the length of contact and interval of contact of that in the intervention group.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Spirituality Scale for Chinese Elders (SSCE)	SSCE is a self-rated instrument that consists of 44 items to assess spiritual well-being among Chinese elders, covering 8 core elements: (1) meaning of life, (2) spiritual well-being, (3) transcendence, (4) relationship with self, (5) relationship with family, (6) relationship with others (friends and people around you), (7) relationship with the environment, and (8) relationship with life and death. Responses are rated on a 5-point Likert scale with scores ranging from 0 (never) to 4 (always) to measure the frequency of a certain perception or behaviour.	4 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15)	It is a widely used screening instrument for depressive symptoms in the elderly. It consists of 15 items on a checklist; the response to each statement is either "yes" or "no".	4 months
The 5-level EQ-5D version (EQ-5D-5L)	This is a valid and widely used scale with 6 items to measure the quality of life among the general population. The EQ-5D-5L essentially consists of 2 facets: the EQ-5D descriptive system and the EQ visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS). The descriptive system comprises five dimensions: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression. Each dimension has 5 levels: no problems, slight problems, moderate problems, several problems, and extreme problems. The EQ-VAS records the patient's self-rated health on a vertical visual analogue scale, where the endpoints are labelled "The best health you can imagine" and "The worst health you can imagine"	4 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The University of Hong Kong
• Collaborators: Tung Wah Group of Hospitals
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Vivian W. Q. Lou, PhD, The University of Hong Kong

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 24, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): December 30, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 24, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 24, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): April 1, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 9, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 8, 2023
• Last Verified: May 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Depression; Elderly; Ageing; Older adults; Depressive symptoms; Dance Movement Therapy
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Depression
• Other Study ID Numbers: RS200375

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Data collected in this study will be published and submitted to academic journals and as research report to share with other researchers and practitioners.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: No limitations on the publications
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: No limitations on the publications
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; CSR

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No