Happy Feet Effect on Quality of Life

As the efficacy of medical treatments increases, the average life expectancy has also increased. Geriatric populations are getting older. The life expectancy of a person born in the United States in 1900 was 49 years, which has significantly increased to 78.8 years as of 2014.

As longevity increases, an important factor to consider is an individual’s quality of life. Quality of life is multidimensional and has been measured by the CDC using the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and the Healthy Days Measure.

The HRQOL measures quality of life considering physical health, mental health and an individual’s ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs). Another questionnaire used by the CDC is called the Healthy Days Measure, which asks individuals how their last 30 days have been affected by different factors such as pain, sadness, anxiety, sleep and energy.

Studying the Happy Feet Effect

About five or six years ago, Pinnacle Rehabilitation and Nursing had a program called Happy Feet. Residents were brought to the nurses’ station, and then music was played while residents were assisted down the hall to the dining room, either walking or riding in the wheelchair according to their abilities. This program has not been implemented in the past four or five years.

At Pinnacle Nursing and Rehabilitation, we recognize the importance of quality of life and hope that the care the residents receive has a positive impact on their quality of life. The purpose of this study is to see if the implementation of Happy Feet will improve the residents’ quality of life and to see if the number of residents coming to the dining room increases.

To evaluate the effectiveness of Happy Feet on the residents’ quality of life, the residents were asked subjective questions from the HRQOL and Happy Days Measure prior to Happy Feet and then 30 days later. Initial surveys were taken the week of April 17, 2017, and ending surveys taken the week of May 22, 2017. Happy Feet intervention occurred Monday through Friday in the interim. Attendance in the dining room for brunch varies with changes in census.

On April 21, there were 12 residents in the dining room, and 10 regularly attended breakfast and would be in Pinnacle a month later. Of the 10 regular residents, eight were cognitively able to answer the first question and six were able to fully answer the questionnaire. Questions were asked such as: Now thinking about your physical health, which includes physical illness and injury, for how many days during the past 30 days was your physical health not good?

Results

Regarding general health of the eight residents surveyed, on average the health improved from good to very good. On average in each survey, the number of “not good” days decreased.

In the healthy days questionnaire, in all areas the number of unhealthy days also decreased. There was a significant change in unhealthy days related to pain, worry and amount of sleep. The last question asks how many days they felt full of life, and on average this amount went up from 11.7 to 15.8 days.

When the first survey was completed, 12 residents were attending the dining room, and after the second survey, there are now 16 residents at brunch in the dining room.

Conclusions

We cannot say definitively that we improved the quality of life of all the patients who participated in Happy Feet. However, on average, there was an improvement in all areas. Also, during Happy Feet, the residents were usually smiling or expressing that they were having a good time, the staff enjoyed having a change in their day, and we feel it improved the culture in the building. Additionally, the number of residents attending the dining room at brunch increased. Residents also reported that they enjoyed doing Happy Feet and would like to continue to participate in it on their way to brunch.

By Maresa Madsen, DOR, and the Pinnacle Therapy Team, Pinnacle Nursing and Rehabilitation, Price, UT

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