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.