Teaching the Getting Up From the Floor Among Long-Term Care Facility Residents

A test to measure the time (in seconds) it takes for the participant to stand up from a standard armchair (approximate seat height 46 cm; arm height 65 cm), walk to a cone 3 m from the chair, turn around, walk back to the chair and sit down again. Instruction for the participants is given as follows "walk at a comfortable and safe pace". Wearing their usual footwear, using their usual walking aids, and supporting themselves on the arm of a chair to stand up are allowed/permitted, but physically assistance is not given for them.

After a trial to familiarise the test, two successive performances are measured and the average of these is used the analyses. If necessary, a 30-second rest is provided between tests.

A test to assess the functional lower limb muscle strength. This test counts the sit-to-stands completed in 30 seconds by the participant from a chair (approximate seat height of 46 cm), with arms folded across the chest. The instruction to the participants is to " stand-up completely and sit down as quickly as possible". The digital stop-watch is started when begin on the command "go". Before timing, the participants is asked to perform one sit-to-stand. During testing, the completion of each correct stand is silently counted by the assessor to ensure for the participant his/her own correct performance. Incorrectly executed stands are not counted. At the end of 30-second test period, stand more than halfway up is counted as a full stand. If the participant could not perform a single sit-to-stand in a standard way, they are scored 0. During testing participants wear their regular footwear.

A test to assess overall muscle strength because this test strongly correlates with the overall muscle strength. The grip-strength will be measured by Kern MAP 40K1 dynamometer and measured in kilogram. This test will be administered in a sitting position and by taking the average of two consecutive measures in the dominant hand

A test to assess fear of falling. With its seven items, this scale asks how concerned the elderly person is about a possible fall during frequent activities of daily living. The answer is marked on a scale of four: 1=not at all concerned; 2=somewhat concerned; 3=fairly concerned; 4=very concerned. The total score can vary from 7 to 28 points with higher score indicating higher level of concern for falling

A test to assess life-space mobility. It will be completed with the assistance of the nursing home staff based on the resident's movement during the previous 2 weeks. This measurement evaluates the extent of the resident's movement (diameter): (1) within resident's room, (2) within unit, (3) outside unit, and (4) outside the facility; and frequency of movement: (0) never, (1) less than weekly, (2) at least weekly, (3) > 2 times/week, (4) 1-3 times/day, and (5) > 3 times/ day. Total NHLSD scores were calculated as 1(diameter 1 × frequency 1) + 2(diameter 2 × frequency 2) + 3(diameter 3 × frequency 3) + 4(diameter 4 × frequency 4). The score ranges from 0 to 50, 0 indicating being bedbound and 50 indicating leaving the facility daily. The total scores marks the area in which the person moves around. The total score ranges from 0 to 50, 0 indicating being bedbound and 50 indicating leaving the facility daily

During using the Nursing Home Life-Space Diameter (NHLSD), besides distance and frequency, the human assistance for mobility is scored on a two-point scale (0 = dependent, 1 = independent). If movement is performed without human assistance, score of each item is multiplyed by 2. This another total score incorporates mobility independence into the total score and thus reflects not only distance and frequency but also dependence on human assistance for mobility. In this case the maximum score, NHLSD-dependence, is 100 points

Falls will be recorded to measure adverse events. It will be by nursing home staff throughout the intervention period. They will be provided with a pre-designed diary and asked to record each day if any participants will have fallen. The diaries will be collected weekly by the assessor physiotherapists.