December 2005
Previous
Newsletters
From
the Active for Life Program Office
Upcoming
Events
Tips,
Tactics and Tools
In
the News
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 University System 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
Happy 2006
Professionals who direct lifestyle programs may
find they can jump-start their effectiveness at the beginning
of the year simply by dovetailing their approach to clients’
and patients’ New Year’s resolutions. While
only about 40% of resolution makers maintain their resolutions
after six months, almost 20% of those who make resolutions
to diet or mend relationships do continue to realize success
after two years. According to the American Psychology
Association’s Monitor on Psychology (Vol. 35,
No. 1), readiness to change, use of behavioral strategies,
and successfully weathering temporary setbacks are keys
to accomplishment.
For more information,
see www.apa.org/monitor/jan04/solutions.html.
AFL
Receives Honorable Mention in Archstone Foundation Award
for Excellence
The Active for Life® National Program
Office is an honorable mention recipient of the 2005 Archstone
Foundation Award of Excellence. The award was created in
conjunction with the Gerontological Health Section of the
American Public Health Association to recognize the best
practice models in Gerontology and Geriatrics.
For
more details, see http://www.archstone.org/press_release2296/press_release_show.htm?doc_id=314215.
The Active for Life®
NPO Moving In January
The NPO will be moving to a new location on the Texas A&M
University campus in late January.
The new postal address will be:
School of Rural Public Health
Active for Life National Program Office
1266 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-1266
Phone and e-mail addresses will
remain the same.
Kudos to OASIS Founder Marylen
Mann
In the mid-1970s, when educator Marylen
Mann started espousing the idea that older people can still
learn and contribute to society, her ideas were far from
foregone conclusions. But she persisted in her ideas, and
in 1982 Mann and the late Margie Wolcott May formed OASIS,
an organization dedicated to providing challenging, meaningful
pursuits for people age 50 and older. OASIS is one of nine
AFL grantee organizations. Mann was recently honored as
a recipient of the prestigious 2006 AARP Impact Award. AARP
recognized her as one of ten people who did something extraordinary
to improve the world in which we live.
Tapping Existing Relationships
and Contacts Can Lead to a Stronger Program
Active for Life® grantee FirstHealth of the
Carolinas is re-engaging key contacts, community leaders
and facilitators to get their ideas and input on ways to
expand AFL outreach to new participants. It’s a great
idea to keep in touch with collaborators and continue to
engage them in your program’s efforts. Often the type
of help and input they give has long-term value.
Upcoming
Events
National Leadership Summit on Eliminating Racial
and Ethnic Disparities in Health. January 9-11, 2006. Washington,
D.C. The Office of Minority Health of HHS and its
co-sponsors will hold the National Leadership Summit on
Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health. For
more information, visit www.OMHSummit2006.org.
International Conference
on Aging, Disability and Independence. February 2-4, 2006.
St. Petersburg, FL.
This conference will bring together researchers, practitioners,
business leaders and people involved in aging policy. For
information, go to http://icadi.phhp.ufl.edu/generalinfo/.
Active Living Research Conference.
February 16-18, 2006. Coronado, CA. For details,
go to http://www.activelivingresearch.org.
Joint Conference of the National
Council on the Aging and the American Society on Aging.
March 16-19, 2006. Anaheim, CA. The conference
will feature more than 800 sessions covering a diverse range
of topics in aging. For information go to http://www.agingconference.org/agingconference/jc06/index.cfm.
TV-Turnoff Week. April 24-30,
2006. For information and resources see www.tvturnoff.org.
International Congress on
Physical Activity and Public Health. April 17-20, 2006.
Atlanta, GA. The CDC Prevention's Physical Activity
and Health Branch, in partnership with the Association of
State and Territorial Chronic Disease Program Directors,
are sponsoring this congress. To learn more see http://www.ncpad.org/events/index.php?id=189.
Older American’s Month.
May 2006. The Administration on Aging sponsors
this annual celebration. See the AoA Web site for updates
at www.aoa.gov.
National Bike Month. May
2006. The League of American Bicyclists is promoting
Bike-to-Work Week from May 15-19 and Bike-to-Work Day on
Friday, May 19. For more information see http://www.bikemonth.com.
CDC's Division of Diabetes
Translation Annual Diabetes Conference. May 16-19, 2006.
Denver, CO. Sponsored by CDC's Division of Diabetes
Translation and CDC's Division of Nutrition and Physical
Activity, this conference will address diabetes and obesity.
For more information see http://www.psava.com/doc2006/main.asp.
National Employee Health
& Fitness Day. May 17, 2006. Presented by the
National Association for Health & Fitness. For more
information see www.physicalfitness.org.
Tips,
Tactics and Tools
Policy
Brief on Walking
The California Health Interview Survey is about
to release a policy brief on adult physical activity which
points out some of the strong associations between walking
and perceived safety. See www.chis.ucla.edu
for more information.
Poor Balance Associated with
Frequent Falls
There is increasing interest in exercise programs to improve
balance in older adults. The Standing Strong Program, developed
in response to the National Blueprint to Increase Physical
Activity Among Adults Aged 50 and Older, combines strengthening
and balance training exercises. It is based on Sensorimotor
Training which enhances the physiologic systems involved
in the control of balance. After three months of performing
the exercises three times a week, participants improved
both their strength and balance by approximately 20%.
For more information, contact Michael
E. Rogers, PhD, at michael.rogers@wichita.edu or Phil Page,
PT, at ppage@thera-band.com.
Hispanic Population of the
United States
The U.S. Census Bureau Report, Hispanic Population of
the United States: March 2003 and 2004, provides an
update on the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics
of the nation's Hispanics, with national summary data from
the Current Population Survey. Characteristics including
sex, age, citizenship, nativity, educational attainment,
occupation, income and poverty status are highlighted in
the report. For information go to http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hispanic.html.
Health, United States, 2005
Health, United States, 2005 is an annual report
on trends in health statistics. The report consists of two
main sections - a chart book containing text and figures
that illustrates major trends in the health of Americans
and a trend tables section that contains 156 detailed data
tables. The two main components are supplemented by an executive
summary, a highlights section, an extensive appendix and
reference section, and an index. The trend and chart book
tables and chart book figures are available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus.htm.
Five-City Panel Study on
Walking
To test the effectiveness of its walking campaign, AARP,
in collaboration with ICR/International Communications Research,
designed both a population-level and an individual-level
evaluation across five southern U. S. cities with similar
socio-economic characteristics, including Richmond, VA one
of the two Active for Life® demonstration sites.
The four additional sites served to test the effectiveness
of different elements of a walking program: media only (Raleigh),
media with step-counters (Columbia), media with peer support
(Little Rock), and media with both step-counters and peer
support (Montgomery). The reports focus on the population-level
research and highlight changes over time in knowledge, attitudes,
awareness, and behavior concerning walking and other physical
activity among respondents in the five surveyed cities.
For details see http://www.aarp.org/research/health/prevention/walking.html.
The Value of Branding
Learning from the “Big Dogs” - not-for-profit
associations and government agencies don’t live in
the $300 billion marketing world of consumer goods, but
there are concepts that might be learned from consumer goods
branding. Check out Frances Kelly III and Barry Silverstein’s
new book, “The Breakaway Brand”, to
see how Nike got to be such a stand-out in a crowded marketplace,
and how JetBlue and Apple have risen above the fray through
effective branding. The book is published by McGraw-Hill.
Low-level Exercise Delays
Heart Failure
While exercise generally
protects the normal heart from cardiovascular disease, will
exercise potentially improve the prognosis of patents with
heart disease, or will it place further demand on an already
over-stressed myocardium? The paper, Low-intensity Exercise
Training Delays the Onset of Decompensated Heart Failure
in the Spontaneously Hypertensive Heart Failure Rat,
appears in the November edition of the American Physiological
Society’s American Journal of Physiology-Heart
and Circulatory Physiology. For details see http://www.the-aps.org/press/journal/05/23.htm.
Worksite Health Programs
Are Good Business Investment
According to an article in the December issue of the American
Journal of Preventive Medicine, employers who invest
in worksite health promotion plans can see a return of $3
to $6 for each dollar invested in the program over a two
to five year period. For more information, go to http://www.acpm.org/acpm_pub.htm.
Exercise of Brains and Bodies
May Improve Memory
Research released recently at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology's
Annual Meeting found that older Americans may improve their
memory by making simple lifestyle changes including memory
exercises, physical fitness, healthy eating and stress reduction.
The study was conducted at the University of California,
Los Angeles. The study was the first to test the impact
of combining memory exercises and stress reduction with
a healthy diet and exercise to improve memory.
Proceedings of the Aging
Americans: Impacts on Ecology and the Environment
The EPA presents the transcripts and findings of the Proceedings
of Aging Americans: Impacts on Ecology and Environmental
Quality Workshop (8/10-12/04.) The report includes research
on the exposure of humans and ecosystems to various pollutants,
the extent of the exposure, and the health and ecological
effects from such exposure. For a copy, go to http://www.epa.gov/aging/pdfs/2005_0620_finaldraftaging.pdf.
Funding
Opportunities
Healthy Eating Research
The Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation has announced the launch of Healthy Eating Research,
an $11 million national program to support research to identify,
analyze and evaluate environmental and policy strategies
that can promote healthy eating and prevent obesity among
children. The program is directed by Mary Story, Ph.D.,
R.D., professor of epidemiology and community health in
the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health. The
program's first Call for Proposals focuses on school food
policies and environments and is available at www.rwjf.org/cfp/her.
A news release announcing the program is available at http://www.rwjf.org/newsroom/newsreleasesdetail.jsp?id=10383.
For more information, please visit www.healthyeatingresearch.org.
Community-Responsive Interventions
to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk in American Indians and Alaska
Natives
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute invites
applications for cooperative agreements to conduct five-year
studies in American Indian/Alaskan Native communities to
test the effectiveness of behavioral interventions to promote
the adoption of healthy lifestyles and/or improve behaviors
related to cardiovascular risk, such as weight reduction,
regular physical activity, and smoking cessation.
Deadline for applications is March
10, 2006. For information go to http://www.fedgrants.gov/Applicants/HHS/NIH/NIH/RFA-HL-06-002/listing.html
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