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Help for Elders

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HELP: Helping Elders Living with Pain

We are a team of researchers in the Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Boston and from other institutions in the Boston area, working together to conduct research on mind-body exercise to help older adults living with chronic pain who are at risk of falls.

We are looking for participants for this important research! Letters will be sent out to Seniors in Boston. If you receive a letter, please contact our team if you are interested in participating.

We will be recruiting seniors to join us for a 6-month Tai Chi or exercise program with a 6-month follow-up. The research team is very excited to be conducting this exercise clinical trial over the next four years (2026-2030). Ultimately, we hope to contribute new knowledge about ways to reduce chronic pain and improve mobility among older adults to help in achieving the best quality of life possible.

The Helping Elders Living with Pain (HELP) study is supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health (NIH R01 AG088086). The study builds on our previous pilot studies of mind-body exercise as a therapeutic approach to helping older adults who live with chronic musculoskeletal pain and are at risk for falls.

Publications

  1. You T, Leveille SG, Yeh GY, Wayne PM. Is Tai Chi beneficial for multisite pain syndrome in older adults? Aging Clin Exp Res, 35: 1443-1448, 2023.
  2. You T, Koren Y, Butts WJ, Moraes CA, Yeh GY, Wayne PM, Leveille SG. Pilot studies of recruitment and feasibility of remote Tai Chi in racially diverse older adults with multisite pain. Contemp Clin Trials, 128: 107164, 2023.
  3. Cai Y, Leveille SG, Andreeva O, Shi L, Chen P, You T. Characterizing fall circumstances in community-dwelling older adults: a mixed methods approach. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci, 78: 1683-1691, 2023.
  4. Nawai A, Foust JB, Shi L, You T, Leveille SG. Is pain catastrophizing associated with poor mobility performance and falls in older adults? Arch Gerontol Geriatr, 91: 104219, 2023.
  5. Koren Y, Leveille SG, You T. Brief Pain Inventory Pain Interference Subscale: Assessing Interference with Daily Living Activities in Older Adults With Multisite Musculoskeletal Pain. Front Pain Res (Lausanne) 3: 897725, 2022.
  6. Cai Y, Leveille SG, Shi L, Chen P, You T. Chronic pain and circumstances of falls in
    community-living older adults: an exploratory study. Age Ageing 51: afab261, 2022.
  7. Cai Y, Leveille SG, Shi L, Chen P, You T. Chronic pain and risk of injurious falls in
    community-dwelling older adults. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 76: e179-e186, 2021.
  8. Cai Y, Hausdorff JM, Bean JF, Manor B, You T, Leveille SG. Participation in cognitive activities is associated with foot reaction time and gait speed in older adults. Aging Clin Exp Res 33: 3191-3198, 2021.
  9. Koren Y, Leveille SG, You T. Tai chi interventions promoting social support and interaction among older adults: A systematic review. Res Gerontol Nurs 14: 126-137, 2021.
  10. Cai Y, Leveille SG, Hausdorff JM, Bean JF, Manor B, McLean R, You T. Chronic
    Musculoskeletal Pain Slows Foot Reaction Time in Older Adults. J Pain 22: 76-85, 2021.
  11. You T, Ogawa EF, Thapa S, Cai Y, Yeh GY, Wayne PM, Shi L, Leveille SG. Effects of Tai Chi on beta endorphin and inflammatory markers in older adults with chronic pain: an exploratory study. Aging Clin Exp Res 32: 1389-1392, 2020.
  12. You T, Ogawa EF. Effects of meditation and mind-body exercise on brain-derived
    neurotrophic factor. Sports Med and Health Sci 2: 7-9, 2020.
  13. You T, Ogawa EF. Effects of Tai Chi on chronic systemic inflammation. J Altern
    Complement Med 25: 656-658, 2019.
  14. Thapa S, Shmerling RH, Bean JF, Cai Y, Leveille SG. Chronic multisite pain: evaluation of a new geriatric syndrome. Aging Clin Exp Res 31:1 129-1137, 2019.
  15. You T, Ogawa EF, Thapa S, Cai Y, Zhang H, Nagae S, Yeh GY, Wayne PM, Shi L,
    Leveille SG. Tai Chi for older adults with chronic multisite pain: a randomized controlled pilot study. Aging Clin Exp Res 30: 1335-1343, 2018.
  16. Leveille SG, Jones RN, Kiely DK, Hausdorff JM, Shmerling RH, Guralnik JM, Kiel DP, Lipsitz LA, Bean JF. Chronic musculoskeletal pain and the occurrence of falls in an older population. JAMA 302: 2214-2221, 2009.

Exercise Videos

A direct link to access the exercise videos will be provided to you by the research staff. 

Contact Us

The HELP Research Study Team

Quinn Building, QUL-0034
University of Massachusetts Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd. 
Boston, MA, 02125, USA

Phone: 617-287-6297
Email: thehelpstudy@umb.edu