 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
|
| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Nancy Whitelaw, PhD, Director, Health and Aging Services Research, National Council on the Aging, 409 3rd St., SW, Washington, DC 20024, 202-479-6612, nancy.whitelaw@ncoa.org
Epidemiological studies confirm that the elderly population experiences multiple chronic conditions and has low levels of participation in risk reduction behaviors, such as physical activity and healthy eating. The National Council on the Aging, with support from the John A. Hartford Foundation, is conducting a multi-site project to improve access for older adults to high quality health programming in community organizations. This project has been specifically designed to maximize sustainability and diffusion by: 1) identifying evidence-based interventions most likely to result in improved outcomes for older adults; 2) convening interdisciplinary teams at the community level of researchers, agency leaders and health providers to review this evidence and reach consensus on which specific interventions should be the basis for an effective, sustainable model program; 3) supporting these teams in translating the research evidence and using best practice information to design model programs, thereby fostering commitment to programs; and 4) piloting these evidence-based models in diverse cities and agencies to assess their feasibility and sustainability. The project’s results reveal that many clinical trial studies are neither ready nor suitable for translation into feasible programs, and those that are require intense collaboration between researchers and agency leaders. Furthermore, while interventions with a strong behavior change component are among the most suitable, few community agencies have staff or volunteers prepared to support behavior change programming. Finally, outcome measures from the original research are often not feasible for community programs. Intervention studies need to include outcome measures that are appropriate for real world programs.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Community-Based Health Promotion, Sustainability
Related Web page: www.ncoa.org
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.