Older adults' participation in a community-based falls prevention exercise program: relationships between the EASY tool, program attendance, and health outcomes.

Purpose Of The Study: The Exercise Assessment Screening for You (EASY) tool was developed to encourage older adults at every functional level to be more physically active. The purposes of this study were to examine characteristics of older adults who participated in an evidence-based falls prevention program by their entry to EASY tool scores, associations between EASY tool responses and class completion, and influences of EASY scores and items on improvements in days limited from usual activity and unhealthy physical health days.

Methods And Design: The program consisted of eight sessions conducted statewide by trained lay leaders in Texas.

Transformation of a rural community for active living.

The current economic recession is challenging all communities to protect and promote the health and well-being of children and families. Rural communities are often more vulnerable than their more urban counterparts because of limited resources and services. Successful models are needed in rural communities that demonstrate the benefits of linking programs, services, and policies that promote active living to improve population health.

The impact of a national strategy to increase physical activity among older adults on national organizations.

This study was designed to evaluate the impact of the National Blueprint (NB) on the policies, programs, and organizational culture of selected national organizations. The theoretical model selected to assess the impact of the NB on organizational behavior was Burke's system theory of organizational change. Three organizations, AARP, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), and the Administration on Aging (AoA), were selected for the study.

Changes in physical functioning in the Active Living Every Day program of the Active for Life Initiative®.

Background: Physical activity can prevent or delay the onset of physical functional limitations in older adults. There are limited data that evidence-based physical activity interventions can be successfully translated into community programs and result in similar benefits for physical functioning.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to measure the effects of the Active Living Every Day program on physical functioning and physical functional limitations in a diverse sample of older adults.

A proposal for a new screening paradigm and tool called Exercise Assessment and Screening for You (EASY).

The Exercise Assessment and Screening for You (EASY) is a tool developed to help older individuals, their health care providers, and exercise professionals identify different types of exercise and physical activity regimens that can be tailored to meet the existing health conditions, illnesses, or disabilities of older adults. The EASY tool includes 6 screening questions that were developed based on an expert roundtable and follow-up panel activities. The philosophy behind the EASY is that screening should be a dynamic process in which participants learn to appreciate the importance of engaging in regular exercise, attending to health changes, recognizing a full range of signs and symptoms that might indicate potentially harmful events, and becoming familiar with simple safety tips for initiating and progressively increasing physical activity patterns.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Diabetes Initiative: demonstration projects emphasizing self-management.

Purpose: The purpose of the Diabetes Initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is to demonstrate feasible and sustainable approaches to promoting diabetes self-management in primary care and community settings.

Methods: The Diabetes Initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation includes 14 demonstration projects in primary care settings and in community-clinical partnerships. Projects serve predominantly indigent populations from varied cultural and linguistic backgrounds in urban, rural, and frontier settings around the United States.

Effect of the Heart At Work program on awareness of risk factors, self-efficacy, and health behaviors.

This study evaluates the effects of the American Heart Association's Heart At Work program on cardiovascular disease risk factor awareness, self-efficacy, and health behaviors. A prospective, quasi-experimental research design was used to assess the impact of the program at two factory sites (one intervention and one control). A total of 633 employees participated.