Web-based Nursing Intervention to Promote Physical Activity Among Older Adults With Coronary Heart Disease

Introduction: Given the high prevalence of coronary heart disease among older adults and the aging of populations, there is a need for secondary prevention interventions to help older adults become more physically active. Web-based interventions could be considered for this purpose, knowing that Internet use is growing rapidly among older adults. In addition, since older adults would appreciate developing a trusting relationship with a healthcare professional, such as a nurse, web-based interventions should include this support, which is not widely observed in the literature.

The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate a web-based nursing intervention aimed at increasing physical activity in people aged 65 years and older with coronary heart disease.

This study aims to answer the following questions:

• What are the needs of older adults living with coronary heart disease in terms of a web-based nursing intervention to help them increase their level of physical activity?
• What is the acceptability (content, structure, usefulness) and feasibility (recruitment, retention, adherence, fidelity) of a web-based nursing intervention to support older adults living with coronary heart disease as they increase their level of physical activity?
• What are the preliminary effects of the web-based nursing intervention on the physical activity level and quality of life of older adults living with coronary heart disease?
• What are the qualitative impacts of the web-based nursing intervention as perceived by older adults on their physical activity level, quality of life, motivation, knowledge and self-efficacy?
• How can the preliminary effects of a web-based nursing intervention, developed in response to the needs of older adults living with coronary heart disease, be illustrated by its impacts as perceived by older adults post-intervention?

Method: This study will be conducted in two phases. Phase 1 will focus on developing the intervention according to the Intervention Mapping framework, in collaboration with a team of healthcare professionals and based on the needs of older adults. In Phase 2, we will evaluate the intervention through a pilot study with a sequential explanatory design. First, a single group pre-post test will be used to assess the intervention's preliminary effects on physical activity (electronic questionnaire), quality of life (SF-36 questionnaire), knowledge (quiz), motivation and self-efficacy (visual analog scale) of 30 older adults living with coronary heart disease, as well as the feasibility of the intervention. Second, a descriptive qualitative design will employ semi-structured interviews to assess the impacts of the intervention as perceived by 8 to 12 older adults who participated in the intervention, as well as its acceptability. Non-parametric statistics and a thematic analysis will be produced. Lastly, a joint display will be used to integrate mixed data.

Discussion: The results of this study will provide insight into the development and preliminary evaluation of a web-based nursing intervention to support older adults living with coronary heart disease as they increase their physical activity levels.

Inclusion criteria

• aged 65 years or older
• agreement to participate in the study about 3 months post-hospitalization for a coronary bypass graft surgery or a percutaneous coronary intervention (as motivation to change behavior would be highest during this period)
• no concurrent involvement in an intervention designed to increase their level of physical activity (e.g., a cardiac rehabilitation program, consultation with physical activity expert) during their participation in the project
• an interest in increasing their level of physical activity post-hospitalization
• fluency in French, spoken and written
• living in the greater Montreal area
• access to a computer connected to the Internet
• no cognitive impairments according to the patient record (i.e., decreased or impaired complex attention, executive functions, learning abilities, memory or social skills)