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September/October 2006
Previous
Newsletters
From
the Active for Life Program Office
Tips,
Tactics and Tools
In
the News
Upcoming Events
Funding Opportunities
The
Active for Life® E-Newsletter Update is produced
monthly by the Active for Life® National Program
Office at The Texas A&M Health Science Center School
of Rural Public Health. To include information, contact
Brigid McHugh Sanner at brigid@sannerco.com
or call 214-244-4186. This program is funded by a grant
from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation®.
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From
the Active for Life® National Program Office
Building Healthy Communities
for Active Aging
The Active for Life® Learning Network is participating
in the development of a national pilot program, Building Healthy
Communities for Active Aging, to recognize communities that
factor into community planning environmental considerations
and the need for older adults to be physically active. The
program is spearheaded by the EPA's Aging Initiative in partnership
with the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National
Council on Aging's Center for Healthy Aging, the National
Blueprint Office, and Active for Life. For details,
go to http://www.epa.gov/aging/resources/factsheets/build_healthy-factsheet.htm.
Active for Life Featured
at Aging Network Meetings
Active for Life director Marcia G. Ory, Ph.D., MPH
spoke at the Division of Community Health on International
Perspectives on Research Translation, in St. Johns, Newfoundland,
September 11-13. She presented Active for Life as
a case study. While in Canada, she met with Newfoundland provincial
government officials to learn about their Healthy Aging Framework,
which addresses aging in rural communities.
On September 26, she participated in
the International Council on Active Aging Strategy Session
2006: Moving Forward: Setting the Agenda for Active Aging.
Dr. Ory also recently participated
as a member of a panel on healthy aging at the Council of
State Governments (CSG) Chronic Disease Summit held in San
Francisco. In follow-up, the CSG is working on an article
on exercise and older adults, which will include information
about Active for Life. The article will be featured
in an upcoming edition of State News.
In October, Dr. Ory participated in
the final meeting of the National Institute on Aging’s
Task Force on Aging and Physical Activity. This advisory group
is providing counsel to the National Institute for updating
its Exercise Guide which is directed toward helping older
adults know the importance of physical activity, identify
specific exercises that can improve health and functioning,
and understand how to get and stay motivated with an exercise
regimen. For a copy of the current booklet see
http://www.nia.nih.gov/HealthInformation/Publications/ExerciseGuide/.
Friday the 13th Lucky Day for
SW Ohio AFL Participants
The Council on Aging of Southwestern Ohio is holding a celebration
event for an expected 250 AFL participants on October 13,
2006. Participants will have the opportunity to sample new
activities and share individual and program successes. NPO
deputy director Diane Dowdy, Ph.D. and marketing director
Brigid Sanner will be guests at the event.
Trails and Health Initiatives
Needs Input
The National Recreation and Park Association is looking for
communities that have anecdotal evidence of the health and
trail connection as well as those that are planning trails
from the health standpoint. Please forward information to
rdolesh@nrpa.org.
Getting
Communities on Track for an Aging Population
To help cities and counties better meet the needs
of their aging population, and to harness the experience
and talent of their older citizens, five national organizations
joined forces to identify ways to prepare for the aging
of this population. Known as The Maturing of America -Getting
Communities on Track for an Aging Population, the project
is being led by the National Association of Area Agencies
on Aging, in partnership with the International City/County
Management Association, National Association of Counties,
National League of Cities and Partners for Livable Communities.
The initiative is funded by a grant from MetLife Foundation.
For a copy of their report and recommendations, go to http://www.n4a.org/pdf/MOAFinalReport.pdf.
CDC Healthier Worksite Initiative
This Web site was designed as a resource for Worksite Health
Program (WHP) planners in state and federal government.
Planners at non-government workplaces will also find this
site useful in generating ideas. The site features time-saving
planning information, policy examples, step-by-step toolkits,
and other quick resources to assist federal and state wellness
planners develop programs that foster healthy lifestyles
among employees. For information, go to http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/hwi/index.htm.
2006 "Your Candidates-Your
Health" Voter Guide
Health educators can access political candidates’
views on health, medical and scientific research. Research!
America and the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation are launching
the first national voter education initiative. All candidates
for the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate are
being invited to participate in the guide. Candidates' responses
are available at http://www.yourcandidatesyourhealth.org.
Fourteen years of Research!America opinion polling on issues
related to medical, health and scientific research have
shown that Americans place a high value on our nation's
global leadership in research. However, only nine percent
say they are well informed about their elected officials'
positions on these issues.
Database Highlights Accessible
Programs
The National Center for Physical Activity and Disability
has a searchable database that lists programs accessible
to a variety of audiences, including older adults, people
with disabilities, and those with chronic diseases. The
NCPAD programs database can be part of your marketing plan
– for example, if your program is designed specifically
for older adults and has open enrollment, this information
can be added to the NCPAD database. Go to
http://www.ncpad.org/programs/ for details.
Getting Outdoors Can Help
Beat Autumn Blues
Colgate University assistant director of counseling and
psychological services Dawn LaFrance offers suggestions
for overcoming what she calls the “autumn blues.”
These tips might be especially helpful for older adults.
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Be serious about
leisure. Find an outdoor activity that makes you look
forward to cooler weather, like hiking or walking.
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Resist the temptation
to hunker down indoors. Get out of the house as much as
possible, even just meeting friends for lunch.
Framework for Program Evaluation
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has developed
a Framework for Program Evaluation in Public Health, a six-step
process to guide you through all phases of an evaluation:
-
Clarify who your
key stakeholders are.
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Clarify your program’s
activities and goals.
-
Determine what
the primary purpose of the evaluation is, what to evaluate,
and what methods to use.
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Decide how to collect
data that are high-quality, feasible to gather, and minimally
burdensome on respondents.
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Analyze the findings
and compare your results with agreed-upon values or standards.
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Promote maximum
use of the findings by providing feedback to stakeholders
and sharing recommendations and reports.
Exercise Started Later In
Life Still Shows Benefits
People who start exercising later in life can still significantly
cut their chances of developing coronary artery disease,
suggests a study in the British journal Heart. The authors
note that those who had been active all their lives were
around 60 percent less likely to be diagnosed with coronary
heart disease. But those who became very physically active
after the age of 40 were around 55 percent less likely to
be diagnosed with heart disease than those who had embraced
inactivity all their lives. The authors conclude that while
optimal health is likely to be enjoyed by those who exercise
all their lives, it isnot too late to start. For more information
see http://press.psprings.co.uk/heart/july/ht87478.pdf.
Message to Older Adults:
Embrace, Don’t Fear the Effects of Sensible Exercise
A Johns Hopkins study should ease the concerns held by many
older adults with mild high blood pressure about the strain
or harm exercise could cause their hearts. Results of the
research on 104 men and women age 55 to 75 showed that a
moderate program of physical exertion had no ill effects
on the heart's ability to pump blood nor does it produce
a harmful increase in heart size. The study appeared in
the July 2006 issue of the journal Heart. http://heart.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/92/7/893.
Walking Can Help Control
Blood Pressure
Three or four short, brisk walks throughout the day can
be more helpful to people watching their blood pressure
than one continuous bout of exercise, Indiana University
researchers report. Researchers compared the effect of accumulated
versus continuous physical activity on pre-hypertension,
an elevated blood pressure level that typically progresses
to hypertension or high blood pressure. The study found
that both forms of exercise, accumulated and continuous,
decreased study participants' blood pressure by the same
amount. The effect lasted for about 11 hours in the group
who took four 10-minute walks, compared to seven hours for
the group that walked continuously for 40 minutes.
The findings appear in the September
2006 issue of the Journal of Hypertension.
A Serving of Exercise After
That Saturated Fat
Indiana University researchers found that physical activity
two hours after a high-fat meal not only reverses the arterial
dysfunction caused by fatty foods but improves the function
of these same arteries compared to before the meal. The
article, "The effect of acute exercise on endothelial
function following a high-fat meal," can be found at
http://www.springerlink.com/content/m6n9l1ml2w35n732/?p=78f6ae0e23224ab2907ca43acf1a7d7b&pi=0&hl=u.
It appeared in the September 2006 issue of European
Journal of Applied Physiology.
Gradient of Disability Linked
to Household Income
Low-income adults ages 55-84 are far more likely than their
wealthier peers to feel limited in doing basic physical
activities such as climbing stairs and lifting objects,
according to a new study published in the August 17, 2006
issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. The
study shows that people 55-64 living below the poverty line
are six times more likely than the wealthiest group of individuals
to say they have functional limitations.
Parks, Recreation, and
Public Health: Collaborative Frameworks for Promoting
Physical Activity, Cooper Institute Series. Oct. 26–28,
2006. Dallas, TX. For information go to http://www.cooperinst.org/conf2006intro.html.
American Public Health
Association Annual Meeting. Nov. 4-8, 2006. Boston, MA.
For more details, visit the Web site at http://www.apha.org.
4th Annual ICAA Conference:
Active Aging 2006. Nov. 15-17, 2006, Las Vegas, NV. Information
is available at http://www.icaa.cc/.
Gerontological Society
of America Annual Scientific Meeting. Nov. 16-20, 2006.
Dallas, TX. Information is available at http://www.agingconference.com/about_the_meeting.cfm.
Choices for Independence
National Leadership Summit. Dec. 5-6, 2006. Washington,
D.C. At the Summit, AoA, the Aging Network, and
other Federal, State, Tribal, and local leaders will engage
in a peer-to-peer exchange of best practices, strategies,
and tools for helping older people remain healthy and
independent. For information see http://www.aoa.gov/Choices/Summit/summithome.htm.
NCOA-ASA Joint Conference.
March 7-10, 2007. Chicago, IL. This conference
will feature over 900 sessions covering a diverse range
of topics in aging. For details, go to http://www.agingconference.org/asav2/conf/jc/jc07/.
Funding
Opportunities
Community Participation in
Research
The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research/NIH/DHHS
is sponsoring support for research on health promotion,
disease prevention, and health disparities that is jointly
conducted by communities and researchers. For more information,
go to http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-05-026.html
or e-mail: kbagley@ahrq.gov.
Robert Wood Johnson Health
& Society Scholars Program
Designed to build the United States' capacity for research,
leadership, and action to address a broad range of factors
that affect health, the program supports up to 18 outstanding
individuals who have completed doctoral training to engage
in an intensive two-year interdisciplinary program in population
health at one of six nationally prominent universities.
For information see http://www.healthandsocietyscholars.org/.
Deadline: October 13, 2006.
National Gardening Association
24th Annual Youth Garden Grant Program
The National Gardening Association and Home Depot are funding
the annual Youth Garden Grant Program. Schools, youth groups,
community centers, camps, clubs, treatment facilities, and
intergenerational groups are eligible. Applicants must plan
to garden in 2007 with at least 15 children. Applicants
should demonstrate a child-centered plan that emphasizes
children/youth learning and working in an outdoor garden.
Information is available at http://www.kidsgardening.com/YGG.html.
Deadline: November 1, 2006.
Senior Risk Reduction Demonstration
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
(CMS) issued a solicitation to implement a health promotion
and disease prevention program through the Medicare Senior
Risk Reduction Demonstration. Up to five existing health
promotion, disease prevention, and risk reduction organizations
will be selected to participate in this three-year demonstration.
Information on the RFP can be found at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/DemoProjectsEvalRpts/downloads/Senior_Risk_Reduction_Solicitation.pdf.
Deadline: November 21, 2006.
AmeriCorps National Education
Award Program
Funding is available for projects that address one or a
combination of initiatives that address community needs,
including harnessing the experiences of baby boomers. For
information see http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do?mode=VIEW&oppId=10587.
Deadline: February 15, 2007.
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