TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of community coalitions ability to create safe, effective exercise classes for older adults
AU - Hooker, Steven P.
AU - Cirill, Lisa A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This paper was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Grant #039593), California Wellness Foundation (Grant #2002-206), Archstone Foundation (Grant #02-03-34), Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, University of California San Francisco, California Department of Aging, and California Department of Health Services. The contents of this paper are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or any of the other supporting agencies. The authors wish to express their deepest thanks to the Marin County Task Force on Strength Training, expert consultants (Kim A. Botenhagen-DiGenova, Evelyn Joseph, Lois Boulgarides, Gina Hansen, Melissa Calhoun-Pankowski, David Hardy, Eydie Abercrombie, Gretchen Vurbeff, Jeanne Nichols, Debbie Rose, Jessie Jones, Betty Robinson, Stan Geel), local lead agency project coordinators, community task force members, and exercise class instructors for their dedication and tireless efforts on behalf of the project. The authors also acknowledge Alicia Norris for her assistance with data management.
PY - 2006/8
Y1 - 2006/8
N2 - This paper describes the evaluation of the Active Aging Community Task Force (AACTF) project that fostered the development of 25 community coalitions charged with creating safe and effective exercise classes for older adults. Periodic progress reports, site visits, personal interviews, and standardized questionnaires formulated the process evaluation. Functional fitness assessments were conducted on exercise class participants to document changes in fitness over time. Over 5 years, 36 workshops to train exercise class instructors were conducted, 153 new exercise classes were created, and over 7000 older adults participated in these classes. After 12-24 weeks of exercise class participation, consistent gains were observed in low back/hip range of motion, agility/dynamic balance, leg strength, and upper arm strength. AACTF members generally agreed/strongly agreed with statements regarding their coalition leader's competence, performance, support, and control, and they also gave high ratings for their coalition's progress toward meeting its objectives. No adverse events were reported for any AACTF exercise class participant. The adaptation of evaluation processes previously used to assess community coalition's prevention efforts proved successful and the information provided via these processes was of tremendous benefit in identifying areas of needed modification. The data also indicated that the AACTFs were effective in establishing safe and effective exercise classes for older adults.
AB - This paper describes the evaluation of the Active Aging Community Task Force (AACTF) project that fostered the development of 25 community coalitions charged with creating safe and effective exercise classes for older adults. Periodic progress reports, site visits, personal interviews, and standardized questionnaires formulated the process evaluation. Functional fitness assessments were conducted on exercise class participants to document changes in fitness over time. Over 5 years, 36 workshops to train exercise class instructors were conducted, 153 new exercise classes were created, and over 7000 older adults participated in these classes. After 12-24 weeks of exercise class participation, consistent gains were observed in low back/hip range of motion, agility/dynamic balance, leg strength, and upper arm strength. AACTF members generally agreed/strongly agreed with statements regarding their coalition leader's competence, performance, support, and control, and they also gave high ratings for their coalition's progress toward meeting its objectives. No adverse events were reported for any AACTF exercise class participant. The adaptation of evaluation processes previously used to assess community coalition's prevention efforts proved successful and the information provided via these processes was of tremendous benefit in identifying areas of needed modification. The data also indicated that the AACTFs were effective in establishing safe and effective exercise classes for older adults.
KW - Community coalition
KW - Evaluation
KW - Exercise
KW - Older adults
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U2 - 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2005.10.004
DO - 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2005.10.004
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33748438665
SN - 0149-7189
VL - 29
SP - 242
EP - 250
JO - Evaluation and Program Planning
JF - Evaluation and Program Planning
IS - 3
ER -