Application of Health Empowerment Theory to Enhance Health Empowerment Levels and Self-Health Management Ability Among Older Migrants: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a theory-based health self-management program in empowering older migrants to manage their health. This study used a single-blind, randomized controlled trial design. A comparison was conducted between the experimental and control groups in terms of pre-test and post-test levels of health empowerment and health self-management abilities.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Health Self-management
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: The Health Empowerment Theory (HET) program; Behavioral: routine community care

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 66
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• China
  • Zhejiang
    • Huzhou, Zhejiang, China, 313000
      • Huzhou University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• (1) age 60 years or older; (2) residing in thelocal area for a minimum of six months; (3) agreement to participate in the study and willingness tosign the informed consent form; and (4) possessing a clear sense of autonomy and the ability tounderstand and engage with the content of the study intervention activities.

Exclusion Criteria:

• (1) absencefrom two consecutive lectures or group activities without prior notification and (2) voluntary withdrawal from the study at the participant's request.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: The intervention group; The intervention group received the HET-based intervention program for 12 weeks.	Behavioral: The Health Empowerment Theory (HET) program; The intervention group received the HET-based intervention program for 12 weeks. From the first week to the fourth week, community nurses interacted with the participants face-to-face to analyze and establish their problems and needs in health management (usual community health services utilization, such as medicine purchases and vaccinations) and helped clarify the importance of health management and their strengths (such as existing health knowledge). From the fifth to twelfth weeks, participants attended health knowledge lectures led by community nurses, covering topics such as: a) healthy lifestyle, primarily diet, exercise, and disease prevention and management for older adults; and b) community health services, which included recent or long-term community health services (such as health examinations for older adults and family doctor contracts). WeChat groups and offline gatherings at community health centers (with groups of eight to ten peers) were organized to interact and comm
Active Comparator: routine community care; The control group received routine community care for 12 weeks.	Behavioral: routine community care; The control group received routine community care, including notifications of community- related activities and lectures through WeChat group chats or telephone calls, and had questions answered by researchers and community nurses.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
health empowerment level	The Older Health Empowerment Evaluation Scale comprises six subdimensions: liability beliefs, knowledge and skills, external support, participation in health management, acceptance of change, and empowerment of others.35 The scale consists of 38 items. A Likert 5-point scoring method was employed, with a total score ranging from 38 to 190. A high score indicates a high level of health empowerment among older adults. The total Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.959, with the Cronbach's α coefficient of each dimension ranging from 0.827 to 0.890. This scale was used to replace the chronic disease older health empowerment scale, mainly to better assess health empowerment in older adults and reflect subtle but significant differences in empowerment levels between the older groups.	From enrollment to the end of treatment at 12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
self-health management ability	The Adult Health Self-Management Skill Rating Scale is a widely used instrument for evaluating individual self-health management ability.36 The formal scale consists of three subscales with 38 items: the Health Self-Management Cognition subscale (14 items), Self-Management Environment subscale (10 items), and Health Self-Management Behavior subscale (14 items). A Likert 5-point scoring method was employed, whereby a high score indicates a high level of health self-management ability. A score of 36 to 76 indicates a low level of ability, 77 to 152 denotes a medium level, and 153 to 190 indicates a high level of ability. The Cronbach's α coefficient of the scale was 0.993, and the content validity was 0.895.	From enrollment to the end of treatment at 12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: TianLe Xiang

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 12, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): February 8, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): February 12, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 31, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 31, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): April 6, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 6, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 31, 2025
• Last Verified: March 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 2022011

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
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No