The broad, long-term objective of this study is to develop an intervention for older patients that can be used to increase compliance to physical activity prescriptions in rehabilitation programs with chronic diseases. The goal of the present study is to contrast a traditional 3 month outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program with a lifestyle activity intervention of a long term (12-month) maintenance physical activity. The lifestyle intervention program uses both group and individual behavior change strategies to motivate and teach participants how to self-regulate the level of physical activity in their daily lives. Th primary a priori hypothesis to be evaluated is that the lifestyle group will have a higher weekly frequency and total volume of physical activity at the 12 month assessment period than will participants in the traditional group. Secondary outcomes of interest include 12 month effects of the treatments on physiologic function, disability and health- related quality of life. To this end we will recruit 160 men and women between the ages of 60 and 80 years. Fifty percent of the sample recruited will be women with 20 per cent of the sample being African American.
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