NURSING INTERVENTIONS TO ENHANCE OLDER WOMENS EXERCISE

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DESCRIPTION (Adapted from the Investigator's Abstract): Exercise rates among older women remain low despite documented health benefits of exercise. This project's primary aim is to compare the efficacy of two nursing interventions designed to increase exercise among community-dwelling older women: (1) theory-based education on exercise vs. standard instruction, and, (2) prompts to exercise vs. no prompts. The theory-based nursing intervention teaches women (1) sources of self-efficacy information including performance mastery, vicarious performance, physiological stimuli, and verbal persuasion; and (2) theory of planned behavior beliefs about commitment, fatigue, time management, and the health consequences of exercises. The standard instruction condition uses typical instruction materials from organizations such as American Heart Association. The prompting nursing intervention includes weekly and biweekly phone calls and mailed materials to prompt exercise. Ergometers and activity diaries will be used to examine the effects of the experimental conditions on the response variables of exercise and physical activity during a 24-month period. This project's secondary aim is to examine the relationship between changes in exercise and subsequent functional status and health-related quality of life. The secondary outcome variables, functional status and health-related quality of life, will be measured with the Medical Outcomes Study Form 36, the Cooperative Information Project charts, and the MacArthur functional status scales. A two way factorial experimental design with repeated measures pre-and post-intervention will be used to compare the effects of the two nursing interventions. The study's primary aim will be analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance with two between-group factors (theory-based education vs. standard instruction and prompt vs. no prompt) and one within-subject factor (time). Findings on the effectiveness of these two nursing interventions will help refine nursing strategies for increasing exercise among community-dwelling older women.