Use of a Tele-fitness Program for Seniors during the COVID-19

Pandemic: Excerpts of the Usage Analysis of the Movinsi! Project

Daniela Elisabeth Ströckl

, Manuela Perchtaler

, Kathrin Weger

, Paola Dario

, Filippo Vaccari

and

Stefano Lazzer

Institute for Applied Research on Ageing, Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, Villach, Austria

Sozialverein ALSOLE, Dellach, Austria

Servizio Sociale dei Comuni dell'Ambito Territoriale Carnia, Udine, Italy

Department of Medicine, University of Udine, Udine, Italy

{filippo.vaccari, stefano.lazzer}@uniud.it

Keywords: Tele-fitness, Rural Areas, Seniors, Cross-Border, COVID-19.

Abstract: From December 2020 to June 2021, the Movinsi! project conducted its field test to evaluate a tele-fitness and

mobilization program for seniors from Austria (Hermagor) and Italy (Tolmezzo, Paluzza). Initially

conceptualized as an offline program, the field trial had to be rapidly converted to an online format due to the

COVID-19 pandemic. Its goals were adapted accordingly and finally consisted of motivating individuals to

exercise more through targeted interventions such as exercise videos and instructions, provision of health

information, and a chat to connect with other project participants across language barriers. In total, 45 people

from Austria and Italy took part in the seven-month trial. Results of the quantitative usage analysis show that

31.1% of participants (n=14) used the Movinsi! platform until the end of the field test, 62.5% made use of the

chat function (albeit mostly once), and the majority (73.1%) used their computers to watch the exercise videos,

despite the initial conceptualization for mobile devices. The qualitative analysis of participant feedback

revealed that many participants disliked the audiovisual presentation of the exercises, some would have

preferred to (also) meet face-to-face, and the health-related information provided through the Movinsi!

platform was overlooked by most.

1 INTRODUCTION

Physical exercise and mobilization are important

building blocks for the general health of all. The

University of Udine, together with the Carinthia

University of Applied Sciences, the social association

ALSOLE (Hermagor, Austria) and the social service

of the municipalities of Carnia developed a

mobilization or physical activity program in the

project Movinsi! and tested it together with seniors

from Italy and Austria.

2 BACKGROUND

Rural areas in Europe are struggling with a decline in

population (EPRS, 2019). Especially younger

generations are migrating to cities because of, e.g.,

more attractive education and job opportunities.

(Leibert, 2014, p. 25). Consequently, the number of

older people among the population remaining in these

rural areas is disproportionately high (EPRS, 2020).

Two such communities are at the center of a

project realized by Italian and Austrian researchers

and members of non-profit associations in the Italian-

Austrian border region, which wants to increase

feelings of social connectedness among older adults

in these communities. This was to be achieved by

inviting people to take part in a fitness training

program with accompanying social activities,

including cross-border meetings and exchanges, a

way which has proven successful in reducing feelings

of social isolation (e.g., Pels & Kleinert, 2016; Brady

et al., 2020; Sebastião & Mirda, 2021).

However, a few months into the project the

COVID-19 pandemic began. At first, the previously

planned 3-month test run was suspended, as it was

thought that the program could then be started in on-

site units as planned. In mid-summer 2020, the

project consortium evaluated the overall situation and

Ströckl, D., Perchtaler, M., Weger, K., Dario, P., Vaccari, F. and Lazzer, S.

Use of a Tele-ﬁtness Program for Seniors during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Excerpts of the Usage Analysis of the Movinsi! Project.

DOI: 10.5220/0011074700003188

In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health (ICT4AWE 2022), pages 299-306

ISBN: 978-989-758-566-1; ISSN: 2184-4984

299

finally came to the decision to drastically change the

project implementation. As a result, the concept of in-

person training and meetings had to be overhauled

drastically in the shortest possible time. This led to a

change in the intended target group in terms of their

affinity for or acceptance of technology. Initially,

people with a low level of technology acceptance

were included as participants in the study - in order to

determine possible changes in acceptance, an

evaluation of these would have been planned. Because

on-site support was not possible during the project test

period, these persons were excluded from the test

group and a minimum level of acceptance and

operating expertise was assumed. The completely

offline study was changed into a completely online

training program. The mobile monitoring platform

initially planned became a web technology-based

platform restricted to project participants (Movinsi!

platform), videos of exercises were shot, voice-over

instructions recorded (Italian and German) and added

to the exercise videos, and a seven-month online

training plan was devised (December 2020 to June

2021) which was disseminated through the platform. In

addition, the platform featured weekly posts on topics

deemed relevant for older adults, mostly from the areas

of health and fitness (e.g., nutrition, sleep, ergonomic

movement). Finally, the Movinsi! platform also

included a chat function with an automated translation

feature in the background. Participants from Italy and

Austria where thus able to chat with each other while

still using their own languages.

Physical activity programs making use of apps,

web-based or other digital solutions aimed at older

adults have been implemented in the past with

promising results (e.g., Irvine et al., 2013; Steinert et

al., 2018; Gonçalves et al, 2021). However, delivering

physical activity interventions to people aged 65 and

older in a web-based format can also lead to issues of

exclusion and attrition (Boekhout et al., 2019). The

Movinsi! project tried to include measures to try and

counteract these issues. One is the aforementioned chat

function to try and improve participants’ engagement

with the program (Alley et al., 2018). In addition, a

physiotherapist was part of the project in Italy and

Austria acting as a first contact point for participants,

as an expert to assess changes resulting from the

program and, in general, to increase participants’

feelings of accountability (Geraedts et al., 2021). The

addition of physiotherapists also circumvented the

reliance on self-report measures by participants which

run the risk of being subject to social desirability bias

(Irvine et al., 2013).

In general, the physiotherapists were central to the

project. They assessed participants before and after

the training program, collected verbal feedback at the

end of the field trail and were accessible at all times

via the website’s chat function or by phone.

Presented in the next section are the quantitative

and qualitative results of the platform’s and training

program’s evaluations, based on the usage

data/statistics and short conversations with

participants post field trail.

3 EVALUATION

The Movinsi! interventions are designed for 65 to 80-

year-old seniors from Upper Italy (Tolmezzo and

Paluzza regions) and Hermagor in Austria. The

persons should be able to walk at least 1km

autonomously without any assistance from aids or

other persons and they must be in possession (active

use) of a smartphone or tablet. Exclusion criteria are

mainly of a medical nature, so that persons with

cardiovascular diseases (e.g., arrhythmia), respiratory

diseases (e.g., BPCO), neurological diseases (e.g.,

ictus), uncontrolled hypertension (e.g., basal systolic

pressure >174mmHg / basal diastolic pressure

>100mmHG) as well as the use of psychotropic

substances and medications that alter the metabolism

were not allowed to participate in the study.

During the field test phase from the beginning of

December 2020 to the end of June 2021 (seven

months), a total of 45 people (Austria: 25, Italy: 20)

were provided with a sports program twice a week with

an average duration of 12 minutes (several individual

videos with an average length of 34 seconds) that they

were to complete. In addition to the videos with audio

instructions, the participants had the opportunity to

read through and use written instructions on the

Movinsi! platform. Furthermore, there was an

information channel on the Movinsi! platform which

was played at the same rhythm as the sports program

and contained information on health-related topics

(e.g., healthy eating, exercise in everyday life). Finally,

the participants were offered a chat function that made

it possible to exchange information across language

barriers (German – Italian) and to communicate

through an automated translation. This Movinsi!

function bundle was evaluated in a quantitative and

qualitative way and the following sections describe the

results after the field trial.

3.1 Quantitative Usage Evaluation

Since the conversion of the project content to a fully

online version meant that technology affinity or

acceptance was already given by the inclusion

ICT4AWE 2022 - 8th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health

300

criterion of technology ownership/use, the focus of

the technical evaluation was on the active use of the

Movinsi! interventions. The use of the Movinsi!

platform as a whole, the use of the chat function and

selected parameters of the use of the training program

are presented below.

3.1.1 Movinsi! Platform Usage

As can be seen in Table 1 from the absolute numbers

of the Movinsi! platform use, after the end of the field

test 31.1% (n=14) of the initial 45 registered

participants were still active and eight people of the

total group even asked for continued use. Separate

consideration of the genders represented in the

project, female and male, does not yield any added

value or allow any significant trends to be derived

regarding the frequency of use.

Table 1: Movinsi! platform user development across the

field test (absolute numbers).

Total Austria Italy

f m f m

Registered for field trial 45 20 5 10 10

Started field trial 40 16 4 10 10

Active participants

after 1 month

33 12 2 10 9

Active participants

after 2 months

29 11 2 7 9

Active participants

after 3 months

24 9 1 7 7

Active participants

after 4 months

22 8 1 7 6

Active participants

after 5 months

17 7 1 5 4

Active participants

after 6 months

14 6 0 4 4

Active participation

until end of field test

(7 months)

14 6 0 4 4

Use beyond field test 8 4 0 1 3

A further analysis of the usage figures at the

regional level (Hermagor, Tolmezzo, Paluzza) does

not show any differences, probably also due to the

geographical proximity to each other. While in Italy

the distribution was ten participants per region at the

beginning, five persons from Tolmezzo and three

persons from Paluzza finished the field test as active

participants.

3.1.2 Chat Function Usage

The chat function offered to enable participants to

communicate across language barriers was hardly

used. During the entire field test, 25 bilingual chats

were conducted, with none lasting beyond a brief

"hello". Of the 40 active participants, 25 people used

the chat function at least once (62.5% of active

participants). Of these, nine people recorded one-time

use, and seven others used the chat two times. Of the

total group, there was only one person who used the

chat more often to get in touch with other participants.

3.1.3 Physical Training Platform Usage –

Overview

In total, the Movinsi! training platform recorded

11,112 views of the training units (playlists) during

the field test (at least starting a playlist). The

participants were provided with 56 training units in

German and the same 56 training units in Italian (112

training units in total); this means that each training

unit was viewed an average of 99 times. Looking

more closely at the individual sessions, some were

viewed significantly more often than others: Most

prominent are session one in Italian with 975 views

(8.8% of all views in total), session 1 in German with

457 views, session 3 in Italian with 347 views, but

also later sessions such as session 18 in German with

206 views. In contrast, some sessions received only

very occasional views, e.g., session 9 in Italian with 4

views (week of training: December 30 – January 5)

orthe German version which was played ten times in

the same period.

Figure 1: Numbers of daily playlist calls in total.

Use of a Tele-ﬁtness Program for Seniors during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Excerpts of the Usage Analysis of the Movinsi! Project

301

The graph in Figure 1 shows the total daily

number of calls across the sessions available at the

respective times. It can be seen that over the duration

of the seven-month field test, the total usage slowly

decreased, but even towards the end of the field test,

51 calls (18.06.2021) per day could be recorded.

An even more precise insight into the use of the

playlists is provided by the total playback time in

hours, which amounts to 107.5 hours over the

duration of the field test. If one considers this value

with the average duration of 12 minutes per playlist,

it results that on average approx. 538 playlists were

played completely. Based on this number, the average

total usage (playing all videos in their entire length)

of each of the 112 playlists would be 4.8 times.

3.1.4 Physical Training Platform Usage –

Subtitles, Devices and Operating

Systems

Subtitles: During the training sessions, participants

could use the subtitle function in addition to the audio

output of the videos. Here, it can be seen that subtitles

were mainly used in Italy (176 playlist views), even

though the total number of uses was low. In Austria,

the function was only used two times. If we look at

the time of use, videos with a total duration of 1.5

hours were viewed with subtitles in Italy and <0.0

hours in Austria. This indicates that the use of the

subtitle function was clicked on by mistake and then

switched off again immediately.

Devices: According to the project proposal

definition, the Movinsi! platform or the embedded

platform for the training units was primarily intended

for use by mobile devices. However, due to the

technical implementation using web technologies, the

platform could also be played or used on other

devices, depending on the needs of the participants.

Table 2: Devices used to view the training sessions.

Technology Calls Playback time in h

Total 11,112 (100%) 107.5 (100%)

Computer 8,124 (73.1%) 80.6 (75.0%)

Smartphone 2,315 (20.8%) 19.5 (18.2%)

Tablet 563 (5.1%) 6.3 (5.9%)

Smart TV 74 (0.7%) 0.6 (0.6%)

As can be seen in Table 2, the participants mainly

preferred the computer to play the training sessions.

Smartphones and tablets were used much less

frequently. This could be due to the better user

experience through larger screens and thus larger and

more visible videos. A low level of use was found for

smart TV devices, although their use was not intended

at any time.

Operating Systems: Continuing with the

different end devices, the types of operating systems

used when using the training platform were also

recorded. This makes it possible to draw even more

conclusions about the technologies used by the

seniors/participants.

Table 3: Operating systems (OS) used to view the training

sessions.

OS Technology Calls

Playback

time in h

Total 11,112

(100%)

107.5

(100%)

Windows

Computer

8,033

(72.3%)

79.8

(74.3%)

Macintosh 2,525

(22.7%)

23.2

(21.6%)

Android Smartphone

& Tablet

353 (3.2%) 2.7 (2.5%)

iOS 91 (0.8%) 0.8 (0.7%)

Chrome-cast

Smart TV

41 (0.4%) 0.4 (0.3%)

Tizen 31 (0.3%) 0.3 (0.2%)

Smart TV 2 (0.0%) 0.0 (0.0%)

As can be seen in Table 3, the platform-

independent implementation of the Movinsi!

functions enabled participants to use a variety of

different systems, and this option was also taken up.

In the case of the computer operating systems

Windows and Macintosh, it is clear that Windows

was used more often, but over 2,500 uses by means

of an Apple system speak clearly for applications that

are implemented browser-based. The same picture

emerges for the use of smartphones and tablets. Here,

Android devices were used by Movinsi! users about

four times as often as iOS (Apple), but just under 1%

of all calls were made using an iPhone or iPad. A

broader spread can be seen with Smart TVs. First, two

calls could not be assigned to any known system (see

Table 3 Smart TV), 31 calls were made by means of

a Tizen-based Smart TV (Samsung devices use the

Tizen operating system) and with 41 calls, streams by

means of Chromecast technology were used most

frequently. These allow the screen of a smartphone,

tablet or computer to be streamed to the larger TV

screen.

3.2 User Feedback

At the end of the field trail phase, participants in

Austria and Italy were asked to give short verbal

feedback on the project activities. The following

sections present the analysis of participant statements

first from Austria, then from Italy.

ICT4AWE 2022 - 8th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health

302

3.2.1 Austria

In Austria, 22 participants gave feedback on the

training program and other project activities, 18 of

them female, four of them male, with a combined

average age of 71.0 years. In total, participants gave

63 singular statements, which can be classified in ten

categories.

The majority (13) of feedback statements by

Austrian participants referred to their use of the

training program. Five participants stated that they

had enjoyed the training program and had used it

regularly. An additional four participants said that

they had also enjoyed the program very much but had

had to stop participating due to unrelated health issues

(e.g., accidents, injuries) or family issues. Another

two had either used the program diligently at first and

then lost some of their motivation or had partly used

the program. One participant had used the program as

a source of material for their own exercise group.

Lastly, one participant stated that they had had

difficulties with exercises that used weights but that

they had then simply decided to do these without

weights instead.

In total, ten statements fell into the category

‘presentation’, with all of the statements rating the

presentation negatively. The overall tenor was that

the videos had been boring, impractical, tedious, and

had seemed to have been prepared with little care.

Participants also noted that the videos had not been

very motivating and had lacked joy. Finally, one

participant had found the speed of the presentation

too fast to remember all the exercise steps that were

shown in the video.

In terms of participant feedback, the presentation

of the exercises was closely related to the (technical)

implementation of the training program. Overall,

nine participant statements fell into this category. One

participant stated that they had liked the format of the

videos and instructions, but found it too bad that the

program had been online. Four participants noted that

having to press play and pause around every exercise

in a single training session had been very

inconvenient, with one of them adding that the

recurring introductory portion of the videos had been

annoying. The use of YouTube, its cookies, and

especially its recurring advertisements were noted as

having been unfavorable by three participants, one of

whom went so far as to do the exercises without

watching any videos and using only the written

descriptions as instruction. One participant said that

Online: https://tvthek.orf.at/profile/Fit-mit-Philipp/138

92249/episodes

they had tried to contact the physiotherapist via the

chat function on the website but had never gotten a

reply. Finally, one participant had missed the personal

contact due to the online format and would very much

have liked to get in touch with participants from Italy.

The category ‘non-use’ comprised eight

participant statements. In cases where participants

had used the program at first but later had to stop,

statements were also counted in the ‘use’ category.

Two participants stated that they had used the

program in the beginning but that they had had to stop

due to health reasons. Two additional participants

stated specific health issues, most likely as reasons for

not having taken part in the training program after

some time or at all. One participant said that they had

begun with the training program but had had to stop

due to a family emergency. Another participant had

had a look at the program but had not taken part in it.

Finally, two participants said that they had been

unable to use the program at all because they had had

very little time for themselves during the time of the

field trail phase, both citing the large amount of snow

and the corresponding work as the main reason.

The fitness program ‘Fit with Philipp’ (German:

‘Fit mit Philipp’

) was mentioned in seven statements

as an alternative that participants had switched over

to after trying out the project’s program and not liking

it. Fit with Philipp is presented weekdays on Austria’s

national public service broadcaster ORF and focusses

specifically on older adults and people who have

difficulties staying active. The 20-minute program

has been on air since late March of 2020, won the

Austrian television award for best lockdown format

in 2021, and is highly popular among older adults.

Two participants mentioned other alternatives to the

project’s program, among them riding their bicycle

and swimming (summer) or snowshoeing and walks

(winter). One participant stated that they had

switched to something else without giving further

details.

The content of the training program and platform

was the topic of five feedback statements. Three

participants liked the program and the exercises,

another participant liked the slow build-up and

increase in difficulty as well as the informative pieces

of advice (presumably the complementary content

posted on the website). Finally, one participant would

have liked more variety in the exercises of the warm-

up and cool-down sections.

In five statements, participants gave suggestions

on improvements for the training program. The

Use of a Tele-ﬁtness Program for Seniors during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Excerpts of the Usage Analysis of the Movinsi! Project

303

desire for more variety in the warm-up and cool-down

sections has already been noted in the ‘content’

category but can also be seen as a suggestion for

improvement. Two participants suggested that the

structure of the program could be improved by first

mentioning the aids (e.g., pole, weights) that were

going to be needed for the exercises, and one of these

participants added that presenting a continuous

program for 45 minutes without advertisements

would be much preferred. Another participant noted

that the program should include enough time to

perform the exercises presented in the videos. Finally,

one participant stated that the training program could

have been improved by being carried out in a gym

once a week.

The effect of the training program was the topic

of two statements, albeit from the same participant.

For a start, the participant stated that they had profited

from taking part in the program. In a follow-up

statement, they then went into detail and said that

their balance had improved due to the exercises. The

results of the physiotherapist’s follow-up testing

corroborated this subjective feeling.

In two statements, participants noted that they

were interested in either a continuation of the existing

program (including the use of existing exercises), or

taking part in a new program if that program was

offered in a face-to-face setting (intended use).

Lastly, two participant statements can be seen as

general comments on the project. One participant

stated that they liked the idea, presumably of offering

an online training program. The other participant

expressed their gratitude of having been able to take

part in the project.

3.2.2 Italy

In Italy, participants were asked for their feedback in

phone calls. In total, twelve participants were

interviewed and asked to answer a series of yes-no

questions and one open-ended question for

suggestions and comments. Table 4 presents the

results of the yes-no questions.

In addition to answering the yes-no questions,

seven of the participants also gave short statements

about the project and its activities. Of these, two noted

that a training program works better if it is conducted

in a group setting because being part of a group is

more motivating and helpful. Another two

participants stated that it would have been better had

the exercises been presented in a continuous lesson

instead of in pieces and one of these participants

mentioned a fitness program on TV which they had

preferred to follow because it presented the exercises

Table 4: Results of Italian feedback questions (absolute

numbers).

Question Yes No

Did you like the project? 11 1

Were the exercises clear? 12 0

Were the exercises useful? 11 1

Did you have access to the app? 10 2

Did you have difficulties using the

app?

3 9

Did you have the opportunity to read

the contents written on the app?*

4 8

Did you find them useful?* -- 3

Would you like to repeat the

experience in-person?

11 1

Would you be willing to have a face-

to-face discussion?

11 1

*Many did not notice the section on the website.

in a more convenient way. One participant would

have liked regular evaluations on their progress every

two or three sessions to see if they had done the

exercises correctly. Another participant expressed

difficulties in working with video instructions

because they had problems switching their focus back

and forth between the video and themselves doing the

exercise.

Finally, one participant gave a longer statement

touching upon several points. They said that the

program had started out well but that the exercises

had been mechanical and, thus, not very attractive.

They had also missed explanations on how not to get

hurt. They found that carrying out the exercises with

only the help of online video instructions had been

difficult because this setting does not allow for

pointers on how to do the movements correctly.

Lastly, to this participant it seemed that the

interests/problems of older adults had not been

actually known but based on stereotypes.

3.3 Discussion

Even though several Austrian participants stated that

they had enjoyed the training program, and some of

them are still using the Movinsi! platform after the

field trial, the main takeaway from participants’

feedback statements is that the presentation of the

exercises was poor and the technical implementation

challenging. The negative feedback on these two

factors is not entirely surprising, seeing that the

training program had to be changed rapidly from the

initial face-to-face plan into an online format due to

ICT4AWE 2022 - 8th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health

304

the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, planning and

coordinating the videos and audio descriptions as well

as setting up the online platform could not be done

with as much attention to detail as it would have been

had the training program been conceived as an online

program right from the start.

Participant feedback statements also revealed that

the fitness program ‘Fit with Philipp’ on Austria’s

national public service broadcaster ORF is a strong

alternative, which other programs seem to get

compared to immediately. Future tele-fitness

programs implemented in Austria are going to have

to take this into account.

Finally, participant statements showed a

noticeable lack of references to the complementary

content on the website, i.e., information on health

relevant topics such as nutrition, ergonomics or sleep.

This is a strong indicator that participants did not take

notice of this section on the platform which points to

a lack of communication and information about the

existence of this content. This needs to be taken into

consideration in future projects.

Overall, the feedback by Italian participants was

more positive. They liked the project, found the

exercises clear and useful, had access to the app and

largely no difficulties in using it. They would like to

take part in a similar training program if it was in-

person and would be willing to have a face-to-face

discussion. The two items in Table 4 marked with an

asterisk (*), however, revealed the same issue which

already became apparent from the Austrian

participant feedback: The section on health relevant

information and its weekly updates was hardly, if at

all, noticed. This underlines the suspicion expressed

in the discussion of the Austrian participant feedback

in that communication about the existence of this

section on the website was insufficient.

The verbal statements by Italian participants

pointed to some of the main issues of the training

program. Participants missed the group setting of an

offline class and listening/watching online video

instructions while at the same time doing the exercise

can be difficult for some. The presentation of the

content was seen as not very appealing and important

aspects, such as explanations on how not to get hurt,

were felt to have been missing. Finally, one

participant made an important statement in that they

felt that the needs of older adults had not been actually

known but based on stereotypes.

The verbal feedback statements partly picked up

topics expressed by Austrian participants. However,

the difficulties of perhaps especially older adults with

switching their attention between online video

instructions and doing the exercise movements

themselves is an important and valuable new

addition, which has to be taken into consideration

when planning tele-fitness programs for this target

group. The same is true for the statement which

expressed the feeling that the needs of older adults

were based on stereotypes instead of actual

knowledge. This points to the general importance of

a user-centered and participatory approach to

developing digital (and other) solutions for specific

target groups, e.g., older adults.

4 CONCLUSIONS AND

OUTLOOK

The main lessons learned from the Austrian and

Italian participant statements can be summed up as

follows:

 A lot of care needs to be put into the

presentation (video, audio) and technical

implementation (no cookies or

advertisements) of the training videos.

 The contents and functionalities of the

platform in use (app, website, etc.) need to be

conveyed adequately.

 Incorporating regular face-to-face meetings or

sessions into the training program would be

beneficial for older adult participants.

 Established training programs on other

channels (TV, internet, etc.) are strong

alternatives and need to be taken into

consideration.

 Content needs to be conceptualized by

involving members of the target group in order

to learn about specific issues and needs.

While the low number of users at the end of the

project and the constructively critical feedback from

participants may seem to be a setback at first, they

also motivate the project team to continue working on

the topic of tele-fitness. Especially the aspects of

user-centered design (ISO, 2019) and a hybrid

version with a mix of online and offline training could

help a follow-up project of Movinsi! to get more use.

It is also important to better introduce participants to

the platform’s functionalities in the online setting.

The platform-independent implementation approach,

which allows participants to choose the end device

freely according to their own needs (e.g., screen size),

has proven positive. For follow-up projects in this

research area, the main goal is to conduct an efficacy

analysis, which requires randomization from a larger

cohort of potential users as well as a control group.

Use of a Tele-ﬁtness Program for Seniors during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Excerpts of the Usage Analysis of the Movinsi! Project

305

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The project Movinsi! (grant no. ITAT4104) is

partially funded in the European Regional

Development funding program Interreg V-A Italia-

Austria – CLLD. We would also like to thank the

consortium partners of the Movinsi! project and the

field trial participants from Hermagor, Tolmezzo and

Paluzza for supporting our research.

REFERENCES

Alley, S. J., Kolt, G. S., Duncan, M. J., Caperchione, C. M.,

Savage, T. N., Maeder, A. J., Rosenkranz, R. R., Tague,

R., Van Itallie, A. K., Mummery, W. K. &

Vandelanotte, C. (2018). The effectiveness of a web 2.0

physical activity intervention in older adults – a

randomised controlled trial. International Journal of

Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 15(4).

Retrieved on March 4, 2022, from

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-017-0641-5

Boekhout, J. M., Peels, D. A., Berendsen, B. A. J., Bolman,

C. & Lechner, L. (2019). A web-based and print-

delivered computer-tailored physical activity

intervention for older adults: Pretest-posttest

intervention study comparing delivery mode preference

and attrition. Journal of Medical Internet Research,

21(8). Retrieved on March 3, 2022, from

https://doi.org/10.2196/13416

Brady, S., D’Ambrosio, L. A., Felts, A., Rula, E. Y., Kell,

K. P. & Coughlin, J. F. (2020). Reducing isolation and

loneliness through membership in a fitness program for

older adults: Implications for health. Journal of Applied

Gerontology, 39(3), 301–310. Retrieved March 3,

2022, from https://doi.org/10.1177/0733464818807820

EPRS. (2019). Demographic trends in EU regions –

briefing document. Retrieved January 13, 2022, from

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE

/2019/633160/EPRS_BRI(2019)633160_EN.pdf

EPRS. (2020). Older people in the European Union’s rural

areas: Issues and challenges – in-depth analysis.

Retrieved January 13, 2022, from https://www.euro

parl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2020/659403/E

PRS_IDA(2020)659403_EN.pdf

Geraedts, H. A. E., Dijkstra, H., Zhang, W., Ibarra, F., Far,

I. K., Zijlstra, W. & Stevens, M. (2021). Effectiveness

of an individually tailored home-based exercise

programme for pre-frail older adults, driven by a tablet

application and mobility monitoring: a pilot study.

European Review of Aging and Physical Activity,

18(10). Retrieved on March 4, 2022, from.

https://doi.org/10.1186/s11556-021-00264-y

Gonçalves, A. R., Muñoz, J. E., Gouveia, É. R., Cameirão,

M. S. & Bermúdez i Badia, S. (2021). Effects of

prolonged multidimensional fitness training with

exergames on the physical exertion levels of older

adults. The Visual Computer, 37, 19-30. Retrieved on

March 4, 2022, from https://doi.org/10.1007/s00371-

019-01736-0

Irvine, A. B., Gelatt, V. A., Seeley, J. R., Macfarlane, P. &

Gau, J. M. (2013). Web-based intervention to promote

physical activity by sedentary older adults:

Randomized controlled trial. Journal of Medical

Internet Research, 15(2). Retrieved on March 4, 2022,

from https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.2158

Leibert, T. (2014). Selective migration and brain-drain in

rural regions: Patterns and explanations. In Wiest, K.,

Glöckner, R., Leibert, T., Schaarwächter, M., &

Schmidt, A. (Eds.), Dealing with female brain-drain in

rural Europe: results from the CENTRAL EUROPE

project WOMEN (pp. 25-35). Retrieved January 13,

2022, from https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-

ssoar-419067

ISO 9241-210:2019. (2019). Ergonomics of Human-System

Interaction – Part 210: Human-Centered Design for

Interactive Systems. Retrieved January 19, 2022, from

https://www.iso.org/standard/77520.html

Pels, F. & Kleinert, J. (2016). Loneliness and physical

activity: A systematic review. International Review of

Sport and Exercise Psychology, 9(1), 231-260.

Retrieved on March 3, 2022, from

https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2016.1177849

Sebastião, E. & Mirda, D. (2021). Group-based physical

activity as a means to reduce social isolation and

loneliness among older adults. Aging Clinical and

Experimental Research, 33, 2003–2006. Retrieved

March 3, 2022, from https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-

020-01722-w

Steinert, A., Buchem, I., Merceron, A., Kreutel, J. &

Haesner, M. (2018). A wearable-enhanced fitness

program for older adults, combining fitness trackers

and gamification elements: the pilot study

fMOOC@Home. Sport Sciences for Health, 14, 275–

282. Retrieved on March 4, 2022, from

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-017-0424-z

ICT4AWE 2022 - 8th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health

306