Can health promotion programs save Medicare money?

The impact of an aging population on escalating US healthcare costs is influenced largely by the prevalence of chronic disease in this population. Consequently, preventing or postponing disease onset among the elderly has become a crucial public health issue. Fortunately, much of the total burden of disease is attributable to conditions that are preventable.

Lifestyle and reduced mortality among active California Mormons, 1980-2004.

Objective: The objective is to measure the relationship of several healthy characteristics of the Mormon lifestyle to mortality.

Method: We examined 9815 religiously active California Mormon adults followed for mortality during 1980-2004 and 15,832 representative U.S.

Health promotion in later life: it's never too late.

The clinical and epidemiological rationale for the health improvement benefits of health promotion in the later years of life are provided in this article. The authors review the emerging scientific consensus concerning the utility of lifestyle interventions for health improvement in the context of a narrowed definition of health promotion. Governmental initiatives for testing health promotion among Medicare beneficiaries are also discussed.

Creating a robust public health infrastructure for physical activity promotion.

The essential role of physical activity both as an independent protective factor against numerous common chronic diseases and as a means to maintain a healthy weight is gaining increasing scientific recognition. Although the science of physical activity promotion is advancing rapidly, the practice of promoting physical activity at a population level is in its infancy. The virtual absence of a public health practice infrastructure for the promotion of physical activity at the local level presents a critical challenge to control policy for chronic disease, and particularly obesity.

Health measurement in the third era of health.

When writing about "the second epidemiologic revolution," Terris discussed 2 eras in health. The first era-the communicable disease era-began during ancient times and continues today; the second era-the chronic disease era-began during the 20th century, particularly among the industrialized nations. Although neither revolution against these types of diseases is complete, we have made such considerable progress that substantial and growing segments of the population no longer regard disease as the only, or even the primary, health problem.