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Journal Article

Citation

McMahon SK, Park YS, Lewis B, Guan W, Oakes JM, Wyman JF, Rothman AJ. Gerontologist 2019; 59(3): 436-446.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/geront/gnx210

PMID

29401219

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Despite the availability of community resources, fall and inactivity rates remain high among older adults. Thus, in this article, we describe older adults' self-reported awareness and use of community resources targeting fall prevention and physical activity. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted in Phase 1 with community center leaders (n = 5) and adults (n = 16) ≥70 years old whose experience with community programs varied. In Phase 2, surveys were administered to intervention study participants (n = 102) who were ≥70 years old, did not have a diagnosis of dementia, and reported low levels of physical activity.

RESULTS: Four themes emerged from Phase 1 data: (a) identifying a broad range of local community resources; (b) learning from trusted sources; (c) the dynamic gap between awareness and use of community resources; and (d) using internal resources to avoid falls. Phase 2 data confirmed these themes; enabled the categorization of similar participant-identified resources (10); and showed that participants who received encouragement to increase community resource use, compared to those who did not, had significantly greater odds of using ≥1 resource immediately postintervention, but not 6 months' postintervention.

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Although participants in this study were aware of a broad range of local community resources for physical activity, they used resources that support walking most frequently. Additionally, receiving encouragement to use community resources had short-term effects only.

FINDINGS improve our understanding of resources that need bolstering or better dissemination and suggest researchers identify best promotion, dissemination, implementation strategies.


Language: en

Keywords

Community-based services; Falls; Mixed methods; Physical activity

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