Healthy Lifestyle for the Aging Program

was funded by the Ageless Health Initiative of the Paso Del Norte Health Foundation (PDNHF). This evidence-based promotora-education intervention was an adaptation of the “Nutrition, Exercise and Obesity Curriculum: Primary Prevention through Health Education” program developed by Raquel Soto, MD, in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles UCLA Harbor clinic. This multi-component evidence-based project was intended to address the healthy lifestyle needs of 300 low-income El Pasoans age > 60 who live in public housing by promoting physical activity, exercise, and nutrition.

Thanks to the PDNHF funds we were able to:

1. Increase participant’s knowledge of risk factors associated with overweight and obesity;
2. Teach participants strategies for implementing physical activity and healthy eating habits;
3. Identify barriers to implement behavior change and address them through the use of social support and group problem solving skills, and
4. Promote weight loss and decrease in abdominal girth in program participants.

This important project was accomplished through the effective implementation of the Nutrition, Exercise and Obesity program curriculum comprised of 10 group sessions taught in 90-minute modules conducted on a weekly bases with approximately 10-12 participants per group. The program was grounded in social cognitive theory of behavior change, which postulates that motivation to change occurs primarily from outcome expectation and self-efficacy expectations, which are mediated through persuasion from credible role models (Yancey, Jordan, Bradford et al., 2003). All program materials and classes were conducted in English and Spanish.