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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| The association between health beliefs and health behavior change in older adults | | Author(s) | Rebecca Ferrini, Sharon Edelstein, Elizabeth Barrett-Connor |
| Journal title | Preventive Medicine, vol 23, 1994 |
| Pages | pp 1-5 |
| Keywords | Health [elderly] ; Attitude ; Preventative medicine ; Exercise ; Diet ; Social characteristics [elderly] ; Middle class ; Social surveys ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | Few studies have investigated the relationship of health beliefs to health behaviour change in an older population. The authors examined the relationship between self-reported behaviour change and health-related beliefs in a US educated, upper middle class population age 50 to 89 years. More women reported decreasing dietary salt and fat, changing diet, and reading self-help materials than men. Younger respondents (50-69) reported more positive health behaviour changes in diet and exercise than did older respondents (70-89). Those who agreed that diet and exercise were important for optimal health and/or spent more money on healthful items reported more positive behaviour change than those who disagreed. Those who reported confusion about how to stay healthy or lacked motivation to engage in healthy behaviours were less likely to make positive lifestyle changes. Older respondents reported a higher rate of confusion regarding which foods to eat (53% vs 39%) and how to stay healthy (29% vs 19%) than younger respondents who were more likely to report a problem with motivation (40% vs 34%). These results suggest that increasing age does not diminish the relationship between health beliefs and health behaviours. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-980108249 A |
| Classmark | CC: DP: LK2: CEA: CFD: F: T5: 3F: 7T * |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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