"Feeling More Self-Confident, Cheerful and Safe". Experiences from a Health-Promoting Intervention in Community Dwelling Older Adults - A Qualitative Study.

OBJECTIVES: Studies show that regular exercise in combination with nutritional support can be effective in managing sarcopenia, which is age-related involuntary loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength. Qualitative investigations of participants' experiences from interventions in this domain are scarce. In this study, we explored older persons' experiences from an intervention designed to prevent sarcopenia, with the aim of capturing the participants' thoughts and opinions. DESIGN: A qualitative study embedded in the multicenter randomized clinical trial The Vitality and Vigor in the Elderly study, VIVE2. Focus group interviews were conducted. Manifest and latent content analyses were performed. PARTICIPANTS: Community dwelling older adults (n=20) 71-86 years of age with minor limitations in mobility. RESULTS: The experiences from the intervention were categorized and interpreted in one overall theme "Feeling more self-confident, cheerful and safe". The theme encompasses the categories psychological effects of participating in the intervention, physical effects of participating in the intervention, the importance of social support and the importance of a tailored set-up. The participants described their motives for participating in the intervention as being based on concerns regarding the negative health effects of continuing a sedentary lifestyle, difficulties of getting started on their own and lack of confidence in accomplishing change on their own. Participants also expressed that one main objective for participating was to lose weight. CONCLUSION: In this study we have captured the experiences of older adults with minor mobility limitations who participated in a lifestyle intervention. The experiences are interpreted in one overall theme "Feeling more self-confident, cheerful and safe". The central understanding of the participants' experiences was that the intervention affected them in several ways, both psychologically and physically, and that supporting factors included the social support, which became a prerequisite for success. A noticeable finding was the discrepancy between the motive of the participants, to lose weight, and the aim of the study, to improve muscle function. The expectation to lose weight seems to reflect what is commonly known as to be healthy. To our knowledge, at least in Sweden, there are no campaigns or public information highlighting the risks of sarcopenia and the complex issue of if, and when weight loss is desirable for older individuals. This finding highlights the importance of providing such information to this target group. The findings in this study provide valuable knowledge for research teams, practitioners and decision makers when designing and setting objectives for health-promoting interventions for older individuals.

An educational program based on the successful aging approach on health-promoting behaviors in the elderly: a clinical trial study.

BACKGROUND: Many criteria of successful aging are directly connected with Health-Promoting Behaviors. OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of an educational program based on the successful aging approach on health promoting behaviors in the elderly. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This clinical trial study was conducted on 464 Iranian elderly people over 60 years who were admitted at Health Houses for 12 months. Participants were selected through a two-stage cluster sampling and were placed in the control and intervention groups (232 participants in each group). The data collection tools included: a demographic checklist, Palmore Facts on Aging Quiz and the second version of Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile. The intervention was designed based on adult strategy education in five 45-minute sessions. The data obtained 3 months after the intervention were compared with the data obtained before the intervention. The data were analyzed using the descriptive and analytical tests such as paired T-test with SPSS version 20, at the statistical significant level 0.05. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants in this study was 65.9 ± 3.6 (range 60-73). Results showed a statistically significant difference between the intervention and control group after the intervention in the mean scores of awareness of aging facts and score of health promoting behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Focusing on successful aging and adopting HPBs can prevent and decrease aging problems which in turn decreases the financial burden and related costs. This is especially important for the policy and decision makers of the health systems.