Press Releases: Northwest
January 4, 2006
Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research Says Thank You to Seniors in Local Aging Study
PORTLAND, Ore. – Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research (CHR) has been conducting a six-month research study at a senior center in north Portland and one in Beaverton to answer questions about what motivates seniors to adopt behaviors that promote healthy aging. The study at the Urban League's Multicultural Senior Center in Portland and the Elsie Stuhr Senior Center in Beaverton also has been investigating the most effective ways to provide seniors with health information and how seniors prefer to receive health information.
The Healthy Aging study was supported by a grant from Kaiser Permanente Northwest's Community Benefits program, which focuses on creating and sustaining community health initiatives and providing care to vulnerable populations. The study involved developing partnerships with community organizations - including the Elsie Stuhr Senior Center, the Urban League and Multicultural Senior Center, Loaves and Fishes, Susana Maria Gurule Foundation (SMG) and the Sankofaa Health Institute, a grassroots health promotion organization. The researchers collected data about seniors and healthy aging issues through interviews with staff at the senior centers, informal observations of center events, field surveys, and focus groups with seniors.
To thank seniors at both centers for participating in the Healthy Aging study, CHR staff arranged for lunch-time celebrations on Dec. 16 in Beaverton and Dec. 21 in North Portland. The celebrations included health education activities and gifts to promote healthy aging that were culturally appropriate for each audience. More than 100 seniors attended the luncheons. In Beaverton, two "promotoras" (community health workers) from SMG explained the new food pyramid guidelines and how to make healthy food choices. At the Urban League luncheon, the Sankofaa Health Institute, which partnered with CHR in the study, performed a socio-drama called I'm grateful! in which the characters interacted with elders in the audience to find humor in the challenges of old age.
"One crucial thing we've learned during the study," says Carmit McMullen, PhD, a senior research associate at CHR, "is how very important it is to interweave health promotion into the valued activities that draw seniors to the senior centers. Coming to lunch means more than nutrition to these seniors. It demonstrates independence, community engagement, caring, mutual support, and social learning. Outings and games such as bingo also draw seniors to the centers. By participating in these activities, seniors are 'doing' healthy aging without being 'taught' about it. In contrast, traditional health education classes, videos, and posted messages are not as engaging."
Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health care organization. Founded in 1945, the organization serves the health needs of more than 8.4 million people nationwide. About 475,000 people in Oregon and Southwest Washington receive their health care from Kaiser Permanente.
