The older adult population is increasing with estimates of over 80 million or greater than 20% of the US population by 2050. As aging is associated with functional decline, preventing functional limitations and maintaining independence throughout later life has emerged as an important public health goal. Research indicates that sedentary behavior (prolonged sitting) is associated with functional loss and diminished ability to carry out activities of daily living. Despite many efforts to increase physical activity, which can be effective in countering functional loss, only an estimated 8% of older adults meet national physical activity guidelines. Thus, shifting the focus to reducing sitting time is emerging as a potential new intervention strategy but little research has been conducted in this area. With community support and funding, we developed and pilot tested a four week ?Stand Up & Move More? intervention and found significant decreases in sedentary behavior, increases in physical activity, and improvements in mobility and vitality in a small sample of older adults. The purpose of this project is to expand upon these promising results and examine the effectiveness and feasibility of translating a ?Stand Up and Move More? intervention by State Aging Units to older adults from underserved communities. Eighty older adults from four counties made up predominantly of rural older adults and older African American adults will be randomly assigned to intervention (n=40) or wait-list control (n=40) groups. The intervention consists of four weekly sessions plus a refresher session at 8 weeks, and will be delivered by community partners in each county. Based on self-regulation theory, the sessions will elicit ideas from older adults regarding how they can reduce their sitting time, help them set practical goals, develop action plans to reach their goals, and refine their plans across sessions to promote behavior change. Sedentary behavior, physical activity levels, functional performance, and health-related quality of life will be assessed before and after the intervention to examine the effectiveness of the program. Feasibility of implementing the program by our community partners will be assessed via semi-structured interviews. Strengths of the proposed project include strong community collaborations and a high need since the older adult population is projected to increase substantially in the next 15 years.
The number of older adults is expected to double by 2050 resulting in an increase in the number of older adults at risk for health problems and disability which can impact older adults? ability to live independently in their communities. Sedentary behavior (i.e., prolonged sitting) is associated with negative health outcomes, functional loss, and diminished ability to carry out activities of daily living, thus, community-based interventions are needed to reduce sedentary behavior and get older adults moving more throughout the day. Effective, feasible, and readily-accessible interventions have the potential to improve older adults? health and function, as well as contain costs in this expanding population.
