Impact of a health education program on physical activity knowledge and participation of adults with intellectual disabilities

Adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) experience higher than average rates of preventable chronic diseases, many of which are related to sedentary lifestyles. Very little is known about their level of knowledge of physical activity or awareness of physical activity recommendations. Few health education programs are available for promoting physical activity for adults with ID, despite the fact that researchers have repeatedly stated this need. This presentation will describe the effect of a novel 8-session multimedia physical activity education program on the levels of physical activity knowledge and participation of adults with ID. The intervention will be conducted in conjunction with a local disability service agency and will include ambulatory adults aged 18-65 years with mild or moderate mental retardation. Measures include the Nutrition and Activity Knowledge Scale, the Physical Activity Recommendations Assessment, and a 7-day accelerometer measure of physical activity. Two groups matched by age and level of disability will receive the intervention in a pre-post delayed treatment design study with 20 subjects per group. Each group will be tested at 3 time points to assess the potential effectiveness of the educational program: baseline, after the immediate group's intervention, and after the delayed group's intervention. It is hypothesized that following the program, the intervention groups will have significantly higher scores on the knowledge, awareness of physical activity recommendations, and an increase in physical activity participation. Implications for health education programs and the future development of health knowledge assessments for adults with ID will be discussed.