Mobility Interventions for Older Adults in Healthcare Settings

Mobility interventions for older adults in healthcare settings seek to prevent or mitigate the functional decline commonly observed during and after hospitalisation. These interventions include structured ambulation protocols, tailored exercise regimens, technology-based monitoring and feedback systems, and co-designed implementation strategies. Core components involve early mobility assessment, individualised goal setting, environmental adaptations and staff education to overcome barriers such as fear of falling, pain and competing care priorities. Interventions are embedded within multidisciplinary care pathways and are progressively scaled to match patients’ capabilities, thereby preserving muscle strength, balance and autonomy in activities of daily living. Evidence indicates that enhanced in-hospital mobility can shorten lengths of stay, increase rates of discharge to home rather than long-term care and improve post-discharge recovery trajectories. Sustainable practice change is supported by continuous performance monitoring, clear mobility protocols and alignment of organisational resources with patient-centred mobility objectives. The global significance of these approaches is underscored by ageing populations and the growing burden of hospital-acquired disability, prompting the development of scalable and context-sensitive mobility programmes.

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Mobility Interventions for Older Adults in Healthcare Settings publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in mobility interventions for older adults in healthcare settings across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Accelerometer: A portable sensor that quantifies movement by measuring acceleration forces, typically used to monitor step count and posture changes.

Activities of Daily Living (ADL): Fundamental self-care tasks such as bathing, dressing and transferring, used to assess functional independence.

Functional decline: A reduction in physical or cognitive ability that compromises performance in ADLs or mobility tasks.

Co-design: A participatory methodology involving stakeholders (patients, clinicians, designers) in the development of interventions and protocols.

Stepped wedge cluster trial: A study design in which clusters sequentially transition from control to intervention in a staggered fashion, allowing each cluster to serve as its own control.

References

1. Effects of Acute Phase Intensive Physical Activity (ACTIVE-PA) Monitoring and Education for Cardiac Patients: Pilot Study of a Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research (2023).
2. The effectiveness of Function Focused Care among patients acutely admitted to hospital: A stepped wedge cluster trial. International Journal of Nursing Studies (2024).
3. Stepping toward implementation using co-design: development of hospital protocols and resources for using wearable activity trackers in a hospital service. Frontiers in Digital Health (2025).