The effects of Pilates on range of motion in aging adults in assisted living facilities.

摘要

This study aimed to determine if the implementation of the Pilates method would help aging adults in an assisted living facility twice a week improve their range of motion in their shoulder, elbow, and neck muscles. Five aging adults from two different assisted living facilities volunteered to participate in this study and were randomly assigned to two different groups. The Pilates group (n = 3) took chair Pilates with a certified/trained Pilates instructor twice a week for 30 minutes, while the control group ( n = 2) were not asked or told to deviate from their normal routine in anyway. Twelve range of motion measurements were taken once every week in the Pilates group, and in the control group at Week 1 and Week 6 of the study only. Data of this study did not meet the criteria for normality, thereby eliminating the use of statistics for robust samples. Therefore, the simple difference in degrees of range of motion was calculated. Results of the simple degree difference showed, ten out of twelve of the range of motion measurements taken from the treatment group showed an improvement in the degrees of range of motion over the six week time frame of the study.