CHANGES IN HEALTH BEHAVIORS OF OLDER ADULTS - THE SAN-DIEGO-MEDICARE-PREVENTIVE-HEALTH-PROJECT

Background. This study presents behavioral outcomes at 1-year follow-u p from a preventive services intervention trial with Medicare benefici aries. Methods. The health promotion package consisted of goal setting and counseling based on a health risk appraisal and a series of eight educational sessions. All subjects completed a health risk appraisal questionnaire immediately prior to the intervention and 1 year later; this served as the dependent measure. Results. Results indicated that there were significant, positive changes in intervention subjects in a ctivity level and selected nutrition behaviors relative to control sub jects. The strengths and weaknesses of a broad-based approach to inter vention are discussed. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.