Changes in Health Behaviors of Older Adults: The San Diego Medicare Preventive Health Project

Background. This study presents behavioral outcomes at 1-year follow-up from a preventive services intervention trial with Medicare beneficiaries. Methods. The health promotion package consisted of goal setting and counseling based on a health risk appraisal and a series of eight educational sessions. All subjects completed a health risk appraisal questionnaire immediately prior to the intervention and 1 year later; this served as the dependent measure. Results. Results indicated that there were significant, positive changes in intervention subjects in activity level and selected nutrition behaviors relative to control subjects. The strengths and weaknesses of a broad-based approach to intervention are discussed.