Using a Community Engagement Approach to Evaluate the Effectiveness of a Healthy Habits Program on Function and Health in Chinese Older Adults

There is a growing demand for culturally sensitive programs to reduce ethnic health disparities.  In response, the Wang YMCA of Chinatown implemented the Healthy Habits Program (HHP) for Chinese older adults who experience social isolation, low socioeconomic status, and language barriers.  This 6-month intervention provides gym access and weekly nutrition education to promote healthy habits.  Besides evaluating the effectiveness, we concurrently built community capacity by translating standardized measurement tools to be culturally appropriate for this specific population.

We tailored a program evaluation to meet the needs of the community and aging population.  Short Physical Performance Battery, Mini-Mental State Examination, and instruments measuring self-reported nutritional status, depressive symptoms, and quality of life were used to quantify function and health.  To promote sustainability, the YMCA staff were trained and actively involved in data collection and management.  Paired t-tests were performed to assess the mean difference between baseline and 6-month measures.

Fifty participants (mean age 68 ± 6 years; 68% female) agreed to participate.  On average, the HHP improved physical and cognitive function by 8.3% (p=0.01) and 6.9% (p=0.001) respectively, and decreased depressive symptoms by 37.7% (p=0.03).  Quality of life also improved but did not reach statistical significance (p=0.051).  No statistically significant changes were observed in strength and nutritional status.

This evaluation demonstrates that culturally sensitive health promotion programs can significantly improve function and health of older minorities.  It also underscores that community engagement can be an effective approach for conducting program evaluation, and can be a strategy to advance other community-based programs.