Community Readiness for the Promotion of Physical Activity in Older Adults—A Cross-Sectional Comparison of Rural and Urban Communities

Dirk Gansefort, Tilman Brand, Christina Princk and Hajo Zeeb
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Dirk Gansefort: Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology—BIPS, Achterstr. 30, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Tilman Brand: Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology—BIPS, Achterstr. 30, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Christina Princk: Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology—BIPS, Achterstr. 30, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Hajo Zeeb: Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology—BIPS, Achterstr. 30, 28359 Bremen, Germany

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-11

Abstract: Communities can play an important role in delivering public health programs to older adults, but they differ in the provision of local structures and resources. The community readiness (CR) approach applies a stage model of change to the community level and analyzes structures and the degree of willingness to take action on a health issue. This study compared the CR regarding the promotion of physical activity as part of healthy ageing for older adults among urban and rural communities in North-West Germany. A cross-sectional CR assessment with key respondents in 23 municipalities (11 urban and 12 rural communities) was conducted using a semi-structured interview. Interviews were scored across the five CR dimensions and global CR score was calculated (scores between 1 = no awareness and 9 = professionalization). Wilcoxon rank-sum test and hierarchical regression models were used to compare urban and rural communities. In total, 118 interviews were conducted (response rate 69.8%). On average, the communities showed moderate CR scores (4.9 ± 0.3; Range: 4.3–5.4; preplanning or preparation phase). The global CR score was slightly higher in rural than in urban communities (regression coefficient = 0.29, 95% confidence interval (CI): −0.02–0.59). The rural communities showed significantly higher CR scores in the ‘Knowledge of efforts’ dimension (0.70, 95% CI: 0.26–1.14) and in the ‘Knowledge of the issue’ (0.37, 95% CI: 0.04–0.70). Rural communities display a slightly higher CR level than urban communities. In the next step, targeted capacity building activities will be initiated among communities with low CR levels.

Keywords: physical activity; older adults; community readiness; primary prevention; capacity building (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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