Enhancing Long-Term Maintenance of Standing up and Moving More in Older Adults

Decreasing sedentary behavior is critical to health and quality of life at all ages, but particularly in older adults, and even more so for those in small urban and rural communities. The older adult population is increasing with estimates of over 80 million or greater than 20% of the U.S. population by 2050. This project engages community stakeholders with State Aging Units in four Wisconsin counties to deliver a “Stand Up and Move More” intervention to reduce sedentary behavior.

The project includes delivering a workshop (consisting of four weekly sessions with a refresher session at eight weeks). The project will examine two strategies to bolster maintenance of standing up and moving more over the long term. One strategy involves supplementing the existing intervention curriculum with more content on long term maintenance. The other involves supplementing the curriculum plus adding peer support (i.e., buddy pairs).

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Kelli Koltyn
Professor Kinesiology

CO-INVESTIGATORS
Jane Mahoney
Professor of Geriatrics and Adult Development

Susan Andreae
Assistant Professor of Kinesiology