Impact of Best Practice Physical Activity Programs for Older Adults: Findings and lessons learned

Little is known about the impact of best practice physical activity (PA) programs that are offered to older adults in the community in the U.S. We collaborated with the National Council on Aging and the Healthy Aging Research Network with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study the impact of three best practice PA programs for older adults so they can be widely disseminated into community settings to enhance healthy aging. A national competition was held to identify best practice PA programs in 2003. Of ten best practice programs identified, three were selected to participate in a randomized impact study. All three programs provided flexibility, strength and aerobic training three times per week. Five hundred and forty-four (289 treatment, 255 control) participants enrolled in the study across the three program sites. Seventy-seven percent of participants were female and 17% were minorities. Their mean age was 65.9 (range 51-88), and 67% of participants were overweight or obese at baseline. Data were collected at baseline, 5, and 10 months. Analyses found significant differences favoring the treatment group at 5 months with respect to self-efficacy for adherence to exercise over time (p = 0.000), self-efficacy for barriers adherence (p = 0.011), upper and lower body strength (p = 0.022; p=0.001), and participation in exercise (0.010). These benefits were maintained at 10 months, at which time significant benefits on self-efficacy for exercise (0.023) was also seen. Baseline-ten month findings, attendance patterns, and recruitment strategies will be presented and discussed.