A work-based walking program for older women
Date
2008-04-25Author
Kroupa, Allison M.
Ahlers-Schmidt, Carolyn R.
Rogers, Nicole L.
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Kroupa, Allison M., Ahlers-Schmidt, Carolyn R., Rogers, Nicole L. , (2008) . A work-based walking program for older women . In Proceedings: 4th Annual Symposium: Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects. Wichita, KS: Wichita State University, p.111-112
Abstract
With the aging workforce, the workplace is a unique environment to implement a physical activity (PA)
program for older adults. PURPOSE: To investigate the impact of a work-based internet-delivered PA program on
older female elementary school teachers. METHODS: A 25-week PA program was delivered via a secure web site.
The site consisted of six elements: education, PA tracking logs and graphs, individualized PA goals, team
standings, progression along a US trail, and discussion board. Employees logged onto the site daily, recorded steps
and non-walking (i.e. swimming) PA. Non-walking PA was converted to steps and combined with daily steps.
Participants wore a pedometer daily and entered steps and other activity on the program website. Body Mass Index
(BMI), percent body fat (BF), blood pressure (BP) and resting heart rate (HR) were also collected. RESULTS: 22
women [11 intervention (53.7 yrs.) and 11 control (54.1 yrs.)] participated. The average number of steps among
intervention participants increased. There was a significant change in both measures of body composition. BMI and
BF decreased slightly. There was no difference in BP or HR. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate a
work-based PA program can be a useful tool to improve the activity level and body composition of older women.
Description
Paper presented to the 4th Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects (GRASP) held at the Hughes Metropolitan Complex, Wichita State University, April 25, 2008.
Research completed at the Department of Gerontology, School of Community Affairs, Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; and Office of Research, KU School of Medicine-Wichita