Health Promotion for Older Adults in America

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Target Population
Health Promotion Objectives
Healthy People (HP) 2020 Indicators and/or Objectives
Health Topic Content
Recommendations
References

Introduction

This presentation was prepared as an assignment for N3333, health promotion across the Lifespan.

Target Population

The presentation is meant to benefit largely older adults in America. The presentation can also benefit people working in care homes for the aged. They will gain competent knowledge on health promotion for older adults (Rahl, 2010). As American society is becoming more technologically advanced, older adults are also using the computer and the Internet more often. The online health promotion provided in this presentation is readily accessible to older adults.

Health Promotion Objectives

To learn and adopt different forms of physical activity appropriate for older adults
To motivate older adults to create small teams in their neighborhoods to participate in different forms of physical activity within the community

Relevance of Physical Activity among Older Adults to Health

The overall goal of physical activity among older adults is to improve their wellbeing, function, and life quality. The relevance of physical activity is also related to the fact the population of older adults in America is growing at high rates. The group commonly referred to as “baby boomers” including people born between 1946 – 1964 became 65 years older in 2011 (Rahl, 2010).

Physical activity among older adults offers diverse health benefits. There are concerns that a huge proportion of older adults are managing different chronic illnesses and linked old-age disabilities. Physical activity is significantly important for individual older adults and society because it helps the nation achieve the goals set out in Healthy People 2020, together with injury prevention and mental health promotion (Rahl, 2010). It can also promote psychosocial health among older adults.

The relevance of physical activity is also related to older adults’ inactivity. Older adults adopt a sedentary lifestyle in their old age. Older adults take part in less than one hour of low-intensity physical activity every week (CDC, 2012). The fitness levels of older adults are low because of their sedentary lifestyles. Physical activity for older adults is also important because of its benefits for the community. The program reduces the demand for wellbeing and social services. A community can also see positive images of older adults and appreciate the value and contribution they make.

Healthy People (HP) 2020 Indicators and/or Objectives

Developmental objectives of increasing the proportion of trips people make by walking. The health topic addresses the objective of escalating the number of trips of 1 mile or fewer adults aged 18 and above make (Healthy People 2020, 2013).
The second objective is in relation to reducing the number of adults who are not taking part in leisure-time physical exercises.

Health Topic Content

Facts

Generally, people participate in less physical exercise as they get older. About 40 percent of Americans aged 55 and older report no participation in leisure-time physical exercises (CDC, 2012). Healthy People 2020 report that more than 80 percent of adult Americans fail to meet the guidelines stipulated for aerobic as well as muscle strengthening exercises. The low participation in physical exercises is also reported by CDC. The organization notes that 48% of adult Americans comply with the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines (CDC, 2012). In addition, physically active Americans tend to live for more years and rarely experience chronic diseases. A higher proportion of younger adults meet the guidelines for aerobic exercises compared to older adults. Adults with high academic training and income frequently meet the guidelines for aerobic exercise (Rahl, 2010).

Risks

Older adults who fail to participate in physical activities are at higher risk of developing chronic illnesses. The notable chronic ailments older adults are likely to suffer from include diabetes mellitus, dementia, heart problems, and arthritis. Inactive adults also lose more muscle fiber than people who engage in physical exercises (Rahl, 2010). Health experts warn older adults against non-participation in physical activity because a minor ailment could make them entirely dependent on caregivers.

Actions

Older adults who have no health problems should do at least 150 minutes of average aerobic exercise such as walking. They also need muscle strengthening exercises more than two days a week to give power to all important muscle groups. Secondly, older adults can participate in rapid aerobic activities such as running for 75 minutes every week (Howe, Rochester, Neil, Skelton, et al., 2011). This should be accompanied by more than two days of muscle-strengthening exercise. Thirdly, older adults can do an equivalent proportion of rapid aerobic exercises and muscle-strengthening activities for more than two days every week. Furthermore, older adults can engage in these activities as groups within their neighborhoods to encourage one another.

Recommendations

In the future, the tools and resources, which are crucial to the promotion of physical exercises among older adults, should be widely disseminated. The resources containing information about the challenges of inactivity should be disseminated through online means (Healthy People 2020, 2013). There is also the need to engage in advocacy and guidelines developed to raise the profile of physical activity among older adults to enable them to meet the targets for aerobic and muscle strengthening. There is also the need to integrate physical exercise education in the training of all caregivers and those working in the homes of the aged (Howe et al., 2011).

References

CDC. (2012). Physical Activity: Facts about Physical Activity. Web.

Healthy People 2020. (2013). Physical Activity.

Howe, T., Rochester, L., Neil, F., Skelton, D., Ballinger, C., (2011). Exercise for improving balance in older people. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 11.

Rahl, R. L. (2010). Physical activity and health guidelines: Recommendations for various ages, fitness levels, and conditions from 57 authoritative sources. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

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