Intervening on exercise and nutrition in older adults: the Rhode Island SENIOR Project.
Presented are the basic design, methods, and baseline data analyses for the Study of Exercise and Nutrition in Older Rhode Islanders (SENIOR Project) an experimental study to investigate the relative effectiveness of a 12-month, stage of readiness to change-based multiple-behavior intervention (exercise and nutrition) compared to single-behavior interventions in a community-dwelling population of 1,277 older adults. Relationships between stage of readiness to change in the two target behaviors, as well as the relationship between stage of readiness and self-reported exercise levels and fruit and vegetable consumption, were examined using a combination of Pearson chi-squares, analyses of variance (ANOVA), and Spearman's rank order correlations. Stage of change (SOC) for fruit and vegetable consumption was significantly associated with the dietary measure, and SOC for exercise was associated with both the three physical activity measures and servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Overall, individual older adult's readiness to change seems largely to be behavior-specific.
Clark
Phillip G
PG
Program in Gerontoloty and Rhode Island Geriatric Education Center, University of Rhode Island, White Hall, 2 Heathman Road, Kingston, RI 02881, USA. aging@uri.edu
Rossi
Joseph S
JS
Greaney
Mary L
ML
Riebe
Deborah A
DA
Greene
Geoffrey W
GW
Saunders
Sandra D
SD
Lees
Faith D
FD
Nigg
Claudio R
CR
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015444:Exercise; D005638:Fruit; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D012237:Rhode Island; D014675:Vegetables