Projects
Citizen science on park accessibility and park visitation among older adults Ghent University
Providing healthy cities for all is a major challenge for policy makers worldwide, especially in the context of massive urbanization and rapidly ageing populations. High quality urban parks could become an important aspect in creating healthy cities for older adults; since parks can positively impact the physical, mental and social health of their users. Unfortunately, older adults currently rarely visit parks. It is therefore important to ...
Functional measures to evaluate muscle power in older adults KU Leuven
Human ageing is associated with neuromuscular adaptations, which can lead to age-related muscle failure or sarcopenia. Muscle power, the product of muscle force and velocity, deteriorates faster with aging compared to muscle force and is highly related to functional activities such as walking, balance maintenance, standing up from a chair and stair ascent (SA), which makes it crucial for independency. Therefore, tracing muscle power loss at ...
Daily Living Activities Recognition and Segmentation in Older Adults with Sensor Technology and Machine Learning Algorithms KU Leuven
In Europe as well as in China the fraction of older persons continues to rise compared to the fraction of the active population. This growing group of older people requires an individualised and adaptive care plan as their health declines. The level of self-reliance is one of the strongest contributing factors in the care plan. Due to the development of wearable sensors and internet-of-things (IOT) sensors, it becomes possible to continuously ...
Cause-effect relationships between brain networks and inter-limb coordination in older adults and the effect of oscillating transcranial brain stimulation on training-induced neuroplastic changes and motor performance. Hasselt University
Development and evaluation of a program for the treatment of sarcopenia in community-dwelling older adults. The Exercise and Nutrition for Healthy AgeiNg (ENHANce) study KU Leuven
Exercise and nutritional intervention to prevent frailty and sarcopenia in elderly
Because of the ageing of the population, sarcopenia (age-related decline in muscle mass and muscle strength) and frailty (decreased ability to maintain homeostasis after a destabilizing event), represent increasingly important public health concerns. In this study, we will evaluate the synergistic effects of a physical exercise intervention combined with ...
Functional Fitness, Physical Activity, Physical Frailty and Fall Risk of Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Case Study Of Ghana. KU Leuven
The study aims to determine the Functional Fitness, Physical Activity (PA), Physical Frailty and Fall Risk of Community-Dwelling Older Adults aged 60 years and above in Ghana as an example of a Sub-Saharan African Low Middle Income Country. It will be a population-based cross-sectional study involving the use of a battery of physical performance tests, activity monitors, standardized questionnaires and individual semi-structured interviews. ...
Co-Creating Empowering Technology to Support Physical Activity Among Older Adults KU Leuven
The relation between physical activity and sleep in older adults. The associations with movement behaviours and effects of a real-life lifestyle program. KU Leuven
Both physical activity and sleep have been identified as crucial determinants of healthy ageing. However, as people age, they become less physically active and more sedentary. Sleep quantity and sleep quality also tend to decline with ageing, resulting in one in two older adults suffering from sleep problems. Even if the decline in sleep does not result in a diagnosed sleep problem, it has far reaching consequences for an individuals’ health ...
Stand Up, Stay Top! Tackling sedentary behavior in older adults through a feedback-based intervention Ghent University
The population of older adults is expected to increase considerably in the coming decades. This increase poses a major public health challenge, as aging is associated with a reduction in physical and cognitive functioning and health-related quality-of-life.
Decreasing sedentary behavior – or sitting – might be a promising strategy to foster healthy aging. Yet, few interventions have targeted older adults’ sedentary behavior. Moreover, ...