Evaluation of a community-based health promotion program for the elderly: Lessons from seniors CAN

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of a community-based educational program designed to promote health by enhancing older adults' mastery while decreasing loneliness and stress. Methods: Between 1999 and 2004, 339 older adults who participated in Seniors CAN completed standardized assessments of mastery, loneliness, and stress, prior to and upon completion of the 4-month intervention. Participants' scores were compared using paired t-tests to measure changes from preintervention to postintervention. Change scores were then subjected to three-way ANOVA to assess the relative effectiveness based upon participants' sociodemographic characteristics. Results: Participants demonstrated significant improvements from preintervention to postintervention for mastery, loneliness, and stress. Additional analysis revealed that improvement in loneliness was significantly greater among low-income ethnic minorities and minorities with a high level of formal education, p <.05. Conclusion: The 16-week intervention resulted in significant improvements in constructs associated with better health and a higher quality of life for independent-living older adults. These findings suggest that a community-based educational intervention can be an effective strategy to reduce risk and promote the health and independence of older adults.