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

Abstract #118282

Rose Jackman Savage, MPH¹, Fatima Shama², Zenny Felicien³, Ruschel Patrick, MS, OTR³, Quinn Harris³, and William Urban, MD¹. (1) Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Rehab. Medicine/Sports Medicine, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, 450 Clarkson Av. Box 29, Brooklyn, NY 11203, 718-270-4786, ROSE_JACKMAN@DOWNSTATE.EDU, (2) Executive Director, Greater Southern Brooklyn Health Coalition, 19 Winthrop Street, Brooklyn, NY 11225, (3) A Healthy Downstate Program, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, 450 Clarkson Av. Box 29, Brooklyn, NY 11203

Background: Many people with health limitations such as heart disease, diabetes, or arthritis hesitate to participate in traditional forms of exercise because of lack of access or they are unaware of alternative exercise options. This is especially true for underserved African-American/Caribbean women. According to the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability “exercise improves overall health and reduces the cycle of de-conditioning”. To address these problems, we developed a low cost fitness and movement program named “I'm Every Woman” in an underserved community. The program offered one-hour Chair (non-weight bearing/low intensity) and aerobics-strength training and Low Impact (weight bearing/low/moderate intensity) and aerobic-strength-training classes two times per week for 12 weeks. Objective: To increase the number of days that individuals exercised from zero to three days per week and progress them from Chair aerobics to Low impact aerobics. Methods: Participants were recruited through community postings or referred by their physician. A pre/post self-administered questionnaire was completed by each participant. Woman participated in Chair aerobics for 8 weeks and those who could participate in Low Impact for the remaining 4 weeks. The classes were taught by a certified fitness instructor, and also by the participants from the class who taught various cultural dances. Results: Of the 39 participants, 32 (89%) were between the ages of 41-64 years. African-Americans represented 56%, and Caribbean-Americans 32%. Seventy two percent reported a pre-existing health limitation/disability of heart disease, diabetes or arthritis. Post-results were favorable with participants who previously did not exercise zero days per week (27%) reporting an increase in exercise frequency to three days per week (88%). Eighty-two percent of the women progressed from Chair aerobics to Low impact aerobics during the 12-week exercise program. Conclusion: Individuals with health limitations can safely progress from low intensity to low/moderate intensity exercise over a period of 12 weeks.

Learning Objectives:

• At the conclusion of the session the participants will be able to develop an exercise and movement program for underserved minority women with health limitations.

Keywords: Exercise, Disability

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.

Recorded presentation