title: Health Promotion and Education: A Study of the Effectiveness of Programs Focusing on the Aging Process.
abstract: Considering the population aging and the failure of biologistic and hospital-based treatment model, health promotion programs based on scientific evidence are necessary. A comprehensive review of literature was performed, aiming to identify and analyze health promotion and education experiments focused on the aging process. Papers published in eight databases, together with the database of the Pan-American Health Organization, were selected based on review of titles and abstracts, followed by a full text review conducted by two independent reviewers. A total of 22 studies were included, the majority of which adopted a quantitative approach, with a sample larger than 100 elderly or pre-retirement individuals. The majority of studies reported positive results in terms of health promotion and education. One study obtained minimum improvement and one reported that no statistically significant improvement had occurred. The positive effects most indicated by authors were: general or self-perceived improvement in physical health, improvement in psychosocial aspects and in relation to the aging process, improvement in adherence to preventative actions and in healthy conduct and lifestyle, increase in level of physical activity, improvement in quality of life and/or physical well-being, and improvement in activities of daily living or reduction of the risk of developing disabilities.
authors.affiliation: 1 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
authors.forename: Kenio Costa
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.affiliation: 2 Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Celia Pereira
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Caldas
authors.affiliation: 2 Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Renato Peixoto
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Veras
authors.affiliation: 2 Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Renata de Freitas
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Correa
authors.affiliation: 2 Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bonfada
authors.affiliation: 2 Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: DyegoLeandro Bezerra
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.affiliation: 2 Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jerez-Roig
mesh_terms: D006266:Health Education; D006293:Health Promotion; D000073656:Healthy Aging; D006801:Humans
keywords: aging; health education; health promotion; review