Age-Tastic: An Evidence-Based Intervention to Improve Health, Safety, and Well-Being in Older Adults

• Published in: Innovation in aging 2021-12, Vol.5 (Supplement_1), p.494-495
• Main Authors: Pardasani, Manoj, Berman, Jacquelin, Powell, Mebane, Gates, Madison
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abstracts
• ISSN: 2399-5300; 2399-5300
• DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igab046.1910

Age-Tastic! is a holistic intervention that enhances the well-being, health and safety of older adults. Most evidence-based interventions aimed at older adults have focused on singular aspects of health such as cognitive health, falls prevention, depression, advanced care planning, etc. There are few interventions that encompass a holistic approach to health and safety. Age-tastic! is one such intervention that encompasses various aspects of health – social support, financial well-being, physical safety, mental health, health care management, and nutrition. Designed as a competitive board game to entice older adults, this intervention integrates concepts of cognitive restructuring, behavioral activation and game theory to educate, motivate and encourage healthful behaviors. At the core of this intervention is a focus on increasing awareness of health and safety issues, improving health literacy and changing harmful behaviors. A randomized control trial was conducted with 98 older adults assigned to an experimental and control group. Interviews were conducted at baseline, right after the intervention ended (8 weeks) and again after a short time (8 weeks after intervention ended). The results showed significant increases among experimental group participants in knowledge of healthy behaviors (p=0.05), perception of self-efficacy for engaging in healthful behaviors (p