Translating a Functional Exercise Program for Fall Prevention Among Diverse Older Adults in Urban Medically Underserved Areas: A Mixed Methods Study

The Lifestyle-integrated Functional Exercise Program (LiFE) is proven to have high adherence rates and can significantly reduce falls, but it has not yet been implemented for diverse older adults residing in urban medically underserved (MU) areas. An exploratory sequential mixed methods study was co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of aging and physical activity 2021-08, Vol.29 (4), p.612-619
Main Authors: Hu, Yi-Ling, Keglovits, Marian, Somerville, Emily, Snyder, Makenna, Stark, Susan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidental Falls - prevention & control
Aged
Exercise
Exercise Therapy
Falls
Feasibility
Health literacy
Humans
Injury prevention
Medically Underserved Area
Mixed methods research
Older people
Pilot Projects
Prevention programs
Underserved populations
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Summary:The Lifestyle-integrated Functional Exercise Program (LiFE) is proven to have high adherence rates and can significantly reduce falls, but it has not yet been implemented for diverse older adults residing in urban medically underserved (MU) areas. An exploratory sequential mixed methods study was conducted to adapt LiFE and test the adapted program's preliminary feasibility. Focus groups with MU older adults and service providers were conducted to identify modifications. The new adapted program, Diverse Older Adults Doing LiFE (DO LiFE), was then evaluated with older adults. Thematic analysis revealed health literacy and lack of racial representation as barriers to implementing LIFE in this population. The pilot study showed that DO LiFE was feasible with good retention (89%) and high adherence (81.27%) rates. DO LiFE demonstrated preliminary feasibility for diverse MU older adults. Researchers should proceed to larger studies for translating DO LiFE from research to the community.
ISSN:1063-8652
1543-267X
DOI:10.1123/JAPA.2019-0159