Maintaining exercise and healthful eating in older adults: the SENIOR project II: study design and methodology.

The Study of Exercise and Nutrition in Older Rhode Islanders (SENIOR) Project II is an intervention study to promote the maintenance of both exercise and healthful eating in older adults. It is the second phase of an earlier study, SENIOR Project I, that originally recruited 1277 community-dwelling older adults to participate in behavior-specific interventions designed to increase exercise and/or fruit and vegetable consumption. The general theoretical framework for this research is the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of Health Behavior Change. The current intervention occurs over a 48-month period, using a manual, newsletters, and phone coaching calls. Annual assessments collect standardized data on behavioral outcomes (exercise and diet), TTM variables (stage of change and self-efficacy), psychosocial variables (social support, depression, resilience, and life satisfaction), physical activity and functioning (SF-36, Up and Go, Senior Fitness Test, and disability assessment), cognitive functioning (Trail Making Test and Forward and Backward Digit Span), physical measures (height, weight, and waist circumference), and demographics. The SENIOR Project II is designed to answer the following question as its primary objective: (1) Does an individualized active-maintenance intervention with older adults maintain greater levels of healthful exercise and dietary behaviors for 4years, compared to a control condition? In addition, there are two secondary objectives: (2) What are the psychosocial factors associated with the maintenance of health-promoting behaviors in the very old? (3) What are the effects of the maintenance of health-promoting behaviors on reported health outcomes, psychosocial measures, anthropometrics, and cognitive status?