2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

318593
Evaluation of South Carolina Older Adult State-based Services


Sunday, November 1, 2015

Christine Haltiwanger, DPH Doctoral Candidate, MPH, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Anderson, SC
Su-I. Hou, DrPH, CPH, MCHES, RN, Health Management and Informatics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL
Purpose: A longitudinal study design was conducted by the South Carolina Lieutenant Governor’s Office on Aging Assessment.  Current South Carolina state-based programs including home-delivered meals, transportation, congregate meals, home health care and health promotion services were evaluated to determine their effectiveness.  Methods: Secondary data analyses were conducted among men and women (N=33,123) over 60 years of age whom had requested or currently receive state-based services.  Demographic characteristics, state-based services, as well as activities of daily living (ADL) status, instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) status, as well as nutritional measures were quantified and analyzed.  Results: Regression analysis showed statistically significant improvement in nutritional status among participants after receiving transportation (β= -0.02, p<0.05) and health promotion-based services (β= -0.01, p<0.05).  Hot home-delivered meals significantly predicted both ADL (β= 0.07, p<0.05) and IADL (β= 0.07, p=0.02) values.  ANOVA and chi-square analysis indicated significant relationships amongst rurally residing African American widows, who were high school graduates with positive nutritional, ADL, and IADL statuses (all p<0.05).  Conclusions: Current study shows that transportation and health promotion program services for older adult populations proved critical in improving the nutritional status of program participants.  Expansion of these programs would prove instrumental in meeting the nutritional needs of older adults in South Carolina.

Learning Areas:

Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Describe South Carolina state-based services and identify services that were key to influencing older adults’ nutritional scoring status. Describe how demographic variables influence ADL and IADL status among older adults in South Carolina. Discuss the implications of study finding on key factors influencing older adults’ nutritional status in South Carolina.

Keyword(s): Aging, Evaluation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a doctoral candidate at the University of Georgia and the work that I will be presenting is part of my dissertation research to be defended later this semester. The program evaluation that I will be presenting is from the South Carolina Lieutenant Governor’s Office on Aging Assessment/Reassessment. I have no political nor formal relationship with this public office.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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