Active Living Program News
Active Living Every Day: Translating Research to Practice
A group of professionals involved in a grant-funded study of Active Living Every Day will present a symposium at the Gerontological Society of America’s Annual Scientific Meeting in Washington, DC, on November 21. Their session is titled “Translation of Research to Practice: Learning to Adapt Programs for Diverse Populations While Maintaining Program Fidelity.”
Just as Active Living Every Day participants make lifestyle changes to improve their health, the program itself changes to meet the needs of the people who use it. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funds a study to evaluate the effectiveness of Active Living Every Day with older adults in a variety of settings. Throughout the course of the study, the providers are suggesting adaptations to Active Living Every Day as they use the curriculum with this special population. The Cooper Institute and Human Kinetics are working with these providers to make changes that improve the effectiveness of Active Living Every Day with older adults while maintaining the integrity of the program.
Representatives of four organizations carrying out the grant will offer insights into the process and implications of adapting the program at the symposium.
- Sarah Wilcox, PhD, a member of the grant evaluation team at the University of South Carolina, will explain the evaluation process, how adaptations were determined, how the change affected the participants in the group, and the need for and appropriateness of the changes.
- Ruth Ann Carpenter, MS, LD, RD, an author of Active Living Every Day and the program director in the Division of Epidemiology at The Cooper Institute, provides background on determining what changes could be made. She’ll also discuss how program fidelity was maintained when making changes.
- Stacy Wegley, MS, the Active Living Every Day program director at the Council on Aging of Southwest Ohio, represents one of the five community sites in the study. Her perspective sheds light on what really works with the older adults and how they learn which parts of the program need to be enhanced to help older adults increase their physical activity.
- Diane Dowdy, PhD, CHES, will explain how the pieces fit together. A part of the National Program Office (NPO), Diane and her team keep the lines of communication open. They help everyone to discover opportunities to enhance the program, find balance, and appreciate the experience from each group. The NPO puts it all together in a workable framework.
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