Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #114973

Willi Horner-Johnson, PhD, Charles E. Drum, JD, PhD, and Nasreen Abdullah, MD, MPH. Oregon Office on Disability and Health, Oregon Health & Science University, PO Box 574, Portland, OR 97207-0574, 503-494-9273, hornerjo@ohsu.edu

Evidence-based health promotion practices have gained increasing attention over the last decade. The purpose of this presentation is to describe the process of establishing an evidence base for a health promotion program for people with disabilities, and to discuss the results of the evaluation process. Using a health promotion curriculum developed specifically for people with disabilities, workshops were conducted to provide information and skills in multiple domains related to an integrated view of health. Topics covered included physical activity, nutrition, spiritual growth, interpersonal relations, and stress management. Participants continued to receive health information during monthly support groups. The program was evaluated using a pretest-posttest design with a delayed-intervention (DI) comparison group. Outcomes were measured using an existing scale of health promoting behaviors. The intervention group demonstrated significant improvement in mean health behavior scores from baseline to post-workshop data collection. There was no significant difference in mean scores in the DI group between baseline and data collected just prior to attending the workshop. However, delayed intervention group scores increased significantly post-workshop, suggesting that changes in scores were due to the intervention rather than temporal trends. All groups have shown a statistically significant increase in mean health behavior scores from their pre-workshop questionnaire to their post-workshop questionnaires. Increased scores were evident at three months post-workshop and have been maintained through to the point at which individuals complete the study. The evidence thus supports the efficacy of the program in improving health behaviors.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant (learner) will be able to

• Articulate the procedures used to evaluate this health promotion program
• Describe the results of the evaluation study
• Discuss the implications of the study outcomes in relation to evidence-based practice

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.