Wise Choices: Nutrition and Exercise for Older Adults: A Community-Based Health Promotion Intervention

Community-based service, psychological resilience and life satisfaction among Chinese older adults: A longitudinal study

Previous research has suggested that community-based service is beneficial in promoting older adults' life satisfaction. However, there is limited knowledge of the mediating mechanisms that foster this relationship. Thus, the current study aims to explore the mediating role of psychological resilience in the association between community-based service and life satisfaction among older adults. Using data collected over four rounds of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS), this study analyzes the responses of 1439 older adults in China. The results reveal that community-based service is positively related to life satisfaction among older adults. Furthermore, psychological resilience partially mediates this association, highlighting its potential role in promoting life satisfaction. These findings contribute to a deeper theoretical understanding of the mechanisms underlying the relationship between community-based service and older adults' life satisfaction while offering practical implications for enhancing the life satisfaction of older adults in China.

Group-based nutrition interventions to promote healthy eating and mobility in community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE

To identify the efficacy of group-based nutrition interventions to increase healthy eating, reduce nutrition risk, improve nutritional status and improve physical mobility among community-dwelling older adults.

DESIGN

Systematic review. Electronic databases MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO and Sociological Abstracts were searched on July 15, 2020 for studies published in English since January 2010. Study selection, critical appraisal (using the Joanna Briggs Institute's tools) and data extraction were performed in duplicate by two independent reviewers.

SETTING

Nutrition interventions delivered to groups in community-based settings were eligible. Studies delivered in acute or long-term care settings were excluded.

PARTICIPANTS

Community-dwelling older adults aged 55+ years. Studies targeting specific disease populations or promoting weight loss were excluded.

RESULTS

Thirty-one experimental and quasi-experimental studies with generally unclear to high risk of bias were included. Interventions included nutrition education with behaviour change techniques (BCT) (e.g. goal setting, interactive cooking demonstrations) (n 21), didactic nutrition education (n 4), interactive nutrition education (n 2), food access (n 2) and nutrition education with BCT and food access (n 2). Group-based nutrition education with BCT demonstrated the most promise in improving food and fluid intake, nutritional status and healthy eating knowledge compared with baseline or control. The impact on mobility outcomes was unclear.

CONCLUSIONS

Group-based nutrition education with BCT demonstrated the most promise for improving healthy eating among community-dwelling older adults. Our findings should be interpreted with caution related to generally low certainty, unclear to high risk of bias and high heterogeneity across interventions and outcomes. Higher quality research in group-based nutrition education for older adults is needed.

Development of a Multicomponent Intervention to Initiate Health Behavior Change in Primary Care: The Kickstart Health Program

There is a growing movement to integrate behavioral health specialists into primary care settings in order to better manage patients' health behaviors. Group interventions in healthcare settings can provide services to multiple individuals simultaneously; however, the participants' experiences taking part in these activities and the logistics of integrating them into clinical settings are largely under-studied. This article describes the development and implementation of a novel group intervention for health behavior change, The Kickstart Health Program, which integrates components of cognitive, behavioral, acceptance, and experiential therapies. Participant feasibility, acceptability, experiences, and treatment course were assessed. Acceptability among a small sample of attendees was high, and initial data on behavior change suggest there were benefits to patients who attended the program. Increases in mindfulness practice and decreases in exercise barriers from baseline to 10-week follow-up were detected as were improvements in overall perceived health and well-being. Participants expressed that the program was acceptable and successful at helping them reach their individual health goals; however, enrollment barriers negatively impacted the feasibility of the program in regard to attendance. Modification to the enrollment process such as embedding referrals into the electronic medical record, encouraging spouse or family co-enrollment, and peer coaching may address these barriers. The Kickstart Health Program has the potential to improve health behaviors and paves the way for unique studies of dissemination and implementation of efficacious behavioral health interventions into real-world healthcare settings.

Delivery of a community-based nutrition education program for minority adults

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity disproportionately affect minority adults, including African Americans. Engaging in lifestyle changes such as improving dietary habits and increasing physical activity can decrease the incidence and severity of these chronic diseases. The purpose of this research study was to explore the impact of a nutrition education program on health behaviors, lifestyle barriers, emotional eating, and body mass index (BMI) in a community-based setting with a minority sample.

METHODS

A convenience sample of 47 primarily African American adults participated in two similar Full Plate Diet nutrition interventions for 6 weeks (group I) and 8 weeks (group II). Participants completed pre-assessment and post-assessment of fruit, vegetable, and fat intake, as well as pre-assessment and post-assessment on physical activity, healthy lifestyle barriers, emotional eating, and BMI.

CONCLUSIONS

After intervention, there was a significant increase in intake of fruits and vegetables and decreased fat intake. No significant differences were found in physical activity, healthy lifestyle barriers, emotional eating, or BMI after the intervention.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

A structured, community-based nutrition education program may result in improved dietary habits among African Americans.

[An Ethnography on the Healthy Life of the Aged Women Participating the Senior Centers]

PURPOSE

This ethnography was performed to explore patterns and meanings of healthy life among aged women using senior centers.

METHODS

The informants were 21 individuals aged 65 years and older at 2 community-based senior centers. Data were collected from iterative fieldwork through in-depth interviews and participant observations and analyzed using text analysis and taxonomic methods developed by Spradley. Field notes were used with follow-up interviews and dialogue between authors to enhance interpretation.

RESULTS

Patterns of healthy life among aged women using senior centers were categorized by age groups within the context of the four cultural elements of taking care of the body, relationality, temporality, and spatiality: active and passive control, maintenance of interdependence and individuality, expansion and maintenance of the daily routine, unity of peer relations and sustenance of family relations, spending time productively and tediously, and complementary and alternative space of the family relations.

CONCLUSION

The informants in this study demonstrated healthy life by maintaining and strengthening continuous relationships developed in the senior centers without being isolated from the family and society. Patterns of their healthy life differed across age groups within the socio-cultural context. Therefore, interventions should be tailored to address age groups and community needs.

A Community-Based Collaborative Care Model to Improve Functional Health in Underserved Community-Dwelling Older Adults

OBJECTIVE

Examine the effects of a 6-month health multidimensional intervention on physical function, bone density, and mood in a diverse sample of community-dwelling older adults at risk for frailty and excess disability.

METHOD

A quasi-experimental, pre- post-program design was implemented. Adults aged 55 years and older ( n = 337, 60% African American) participated in the intervention and received assessments at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months.

RESULTS

Physical function was maintained during the intervention for both African American and White elders but declined at 12 months for both groups ( p < .0001). Symptoms of depression improved during the intervention ( M = 0.65 ± 0.07, M = 0.15 ± 0.04, M = 0.68 ± 0.07, p < .001, respectively) but worsened at 12 months ( M = 0.68 ± 0.07, p < .001). Bone density scores remained stable from baseline (distal: -1.62 ± 1.17, proximal: -2.73 ± 1.85) to 12 months (distal: -1.72 ± 1.21, proximal: -3.11 ± 1.85, ps > .05) for both groups.

DISCUSSION

Program findings may serve as a basis for the development of a randomized, controlled study to provide empirical evidence of intervention efficacy. Such findings may help inform the development of community-based programs to identify vulnerable older adults and provide vital preventative care to decrease frailty and excess disability.