Personalized citizen assistance for social participation (APIC): A promising intervention for increasing mobility, accomplishment of social activities and frequency of leisure activities in older adults having disabilities

• Personalized attendant (APIC) can increase older adults’ mobility, functional autonomy, social participation and leisure.
• APIC helped in creating new or reviving relationships and increasing the frequency of participation in social and leisure activities.
• APIC also improved motor, intellectual and behavioural capacities and reduced loneliness, concerns and discomfort.
• The attendant also increased support and compensated for an unavailable and crumbling social network.
• APIC might help address the global ‘Ageing well’ priority in efforts to overcome major universal public health challenges.

BackgroundSocial participation, a determinant of health in older adults, requires innovative interventions. The personalised citizen assistance for social participation (APIC) involves weekly three-hour personalised stimulation sessions targeting significant social and leisure activities difficult to accomplish. Recently adapted for older adults, the APIC’s impact on this population is unknown.ObjectiveThis study explored the impact of APIC on older adults with disabilities.MethodsA mixed-method design including a pre-experimental component was used with 16 participants (11 women) aged 66–91 (79.4 ± 8.7) with disabilities, living at home. They completed functional autonomy, social participation, leisure and quality of life questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews.ResultsAPIC increased older adults’ functional autonomy (p = 0.02), accomplishment (p < 0.01) and satisfaction (p = 0.02) with social participation, and frequency of leisure practice (p < 0.01). Post-intervention, participants wished to modify the practice (p < 0.01) and frequency (p < 0.01) of leisure activities, and difficulties in their social environment diminished (p = 0.03). Their attitude toward leisure (p = 0.04) as well as their health (p < 0.01) and psychological (p = 0.03) quality of life improved. Older adults thought APIC helped them resume, maintain, explore and experiment with significant social activities. It also increased their psychological and physical well-being, feeling of control, connectedness, self-esteem and motivation to accomplish activities. Finally, APIC can compensate for an unavailable and crumbling social network.ConclusionAPIC is a promising intervention that leads to new opportunities for older adults to increase community integration and enhance the social component of their lives. It can also optimise how the needs of older adults are met, including utilisation of personal and environmental resources.