Home-based Psychoeducation for Older Adults With Frailty

November 2, 2026 updated by: TAO An

Effects of a Home-based Psychoeducation on Subjective Well-being for Older Adults With Frailty in the Community: A Randomised Controlled Trial

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of a 12-week home-based telerehabilitation programme on improving subjective well-being among community-dwelling older people with frailty.

The main question it aims to answer is

- Could home-based psychoeducation significantly enhance subjective well-being in older adults with frailty in the community?

Participants will receive 12 weekly online group-based sessions at their homes. The content for the experimental group and control group is different:

  • Intervention group: psychoeducation
  • Control group: physical health education Participants will receive three home visits for data collection. Some of participants in experimental group will receive interview for process evaluation.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

126

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Hong Kong
    • New Territories
      • Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong
        • The Nethersole School of Nursing, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

65 years and older (Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Aged 65 years or over
  • Meeting frailty criteria by FRAIL scale (score 3 or above)
  • Mentally competent screened by The Abbreviated Mental Test (AMT ≥ 6)
  • Able to speak and understand Cantonese
  • Living at home
  • Having experience using a smartphone (e.g., sending messages, watching videos)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • A visual or hearing problem or a language barrier that may affect their communication or understanding
  • A life expectancy of less than 6 months
  • Engaged in 150 minutes or more of exercise per week
  • Undergoing psychiatric treatment or taking antidepressant medication, or participating in other studies
  • Have undergone major surgery in the past six months or are scheduled for major surgery in the next six months
  • Any of the following conditions against physical exercises:
  • Acute myocardial infarction or recent unstable angina
  • Uncontrolled atrial/ventricular arrhythmias
  • Dissecting aortic aneurysm
  • Severe aortic stenosis
  • Endocarditis/acute pericarditis
  • Uncontrolled hypertension
  • Acute thromboembolic events
  • Acute or severe heart failure
  • Acute or severe respiratory failure
  • Uncontrolled orthostatic hypotension
  • Acute decompensated diabetes or uncontrolled hypoglycemia
  • A fracture in the past month

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental group

Participants will receive 60-minute weekly online group-based psychoeducation sessions for 12 weeks.
Other: Psychoeducation

The content of psychoeducation is based on "Five Ways of Well-being" which covers "Be active", "Connect", "Take Notice", "Keep learning" and "Giving".
Active Comparator: Control group

Participants will receive 60-minute weekly online group-based physical health sessions for 12 weeks.
Other: Attention control

The content of the sessions mainly focuses on physical health information, such as healthy eating, physical exercise, prevention of falls, and pain management.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Subjective well-being
Time Frame: baseline, 12 weeks post-allocation, 24 weeks post-allocation

The Chinese 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index: scores range from 0 to 25. Higher scores indicate greater levels of subjective well-being
baseline, 12 weeks post-allocation, 24 weeks post-allocation

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Physical functioning
Time Frame: baseline, 12 weeks post-allocation, 24 weeks post-allocation

The Senior Fitness Test: It include seven test: the 30-sec arm-curl test, 30-sec chair-stand test, back-scratch test, chair sit-and-reach test, 8-foot up-and-go test, two-min step test, BMI
baseline, 12 weeks post-allocation, 24 weeks post-allocation
Activities of daily living
Time Frame: baseline, 12 weeks post-allocation, 24 weeks post-allocation

Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living: scores range from 0 to 12. Higher scores indicate greater independence
baseline, 12 weeks post-allocation, 24 weeks post-allocation
Instrumental activities of daily living
Time Frame: baseline, 12 weeks post-allocation, 24 weeks post-allocation

Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale: scores range from 0 to 8. Higher scores indicate greater independence
baseline, 12 weeks post-allocation, 24 weeks post-allocation
Depressive symptoms
Time Frame: baseline, 12 weeks post-allocation, 24 weeks post-allocation

4-item Geriatric Depression scale: scores range from 0 to 4. Higher scores indicate higher level of depressive symptoms
baseline, 12 weeks post-allocation, 24 weeks post-allocation
Social support
Time Frame: baseline, 12 weeks post-allocation, 24 weeks post-allocation

10-item Duke Social Support Index: scores range from 10 to 30. Higher scores on the DSSI-10 indicate better perceived social support
baseline, 12 weeks post-allocation, 24 weeks post-allocation
Health-related Quality of life
Time Frame: baseline, 12 weeks post-allocation, 24 weeks post-allocation

EuroQol 5-Dimension 5-Level: scores range from -0.865 to 1. Higher scores indicate better health-related quality of life
baseline, 12 weeks post-allocation, 24 weeks post-allocation

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

TAO An

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

June 10, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 20, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

June 20, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 10, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 10, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

May 16, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 2, 2026

Last Verified

November 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2023.585.M

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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