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Philip A. Greiner, DNSc, RN, School of Nursing, Fairfield University, 1073 N. Benson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824-5195, (203) 254-4000 x2718, pgreiner@mail.fairfield.edu and Lydia Greiner, BSN, RN, School of Nursing, Health Promotion Center, Fairfield University, 1073 North Benson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824-5195.
Step Up to Health is an action research project to promote physical activity in low and moderate income older adults living in five senior housing sites in Bridgeport, CT. At enrollment, participants complete a baseline questionnaire, a cardiovascular risk assessment, the Up and Go Test, and the SF-36 lifestyle questionnaire. Using focus groups and baseline questionnaire data, residents plan physical activity programs. Activity choices include gardening, line dancing, walking, and aerobics. Determinants of activities include health limitations, physical plant, and the surrounding environment. Thus far, 120 people have participated in recruiting activities. Of those, 68 have enrolled in the project. Physical activity programs are underway and residents are being recruited to be trained for physical activity leadership roles in their residences in an effort to make this project self-sustaining. This presentation will address the action research approach used in the project, the degree of success and problems encountered in the action research process, and project outcomes (quantitative and qualitative). Step Up to Health is funded through a mini-grant from the National Blueprint Project, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Community partners in Step Up to Health include Housing Ministries of New England, Augustinian Housing of the Archdioceses of Bridgeport, and Fairfield University School of Nursing and its Health Promotion Center. Service learning is an important part of this project, with student nurses serving as contacts and resource people at each of the sites.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Physical Activity, Research
Related Web page: www.agingblueprint.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.