Peer-Led Diet and Exercise Intervention

VA Office of Research and Development

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Peer Leaders

Physical Activity

Diet Quality

Treatments

Other: Exercise Intervention

Other: Diet Intervention

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other U.S. Federal agency

Identifiers

NCT04994938

RX003739-01A1 (Other Grant/Funding Number)

E3739-P

Details and patient eligibility

About

The majority of older Veterans do not meet the minimum healthy diet or physical activity recommendations, despite known benefits. Identifying novel ways to increase adherence to rehabilitation programs that improve dietary quality and physical activity may reduce the risk of disability in older Veterans. Peer-based interventions may be one method to facilitate lasting behavioral change since peers often share a common culture and knowledge about the problems that their community experiences. The investigators propose to develop and evaluate a novel peer-led diet and exercise intervention that targets older Veterans with multiple chronic health conditions. Successful development and pilot of this intervention will provide the preliminary data for a larger multisite trial focused on the use of peer-led interventions to improve long-term compliance to lifestyle interventions in older Veterans.

Full description

Over the next ten years the share of Veterans age 65+ years will increase to over 50% of the total Veteran population. The ability to safely maintain mobility with aging is critical. Older Veterans with multiple chronic health conditions are more likely to experience mobility decline and report reduced physical activity levels and poor dietary quality. While a multitude of interventions have attempted to address poor diet and physical inactivity in older adults; most have utilized resource-intensive professionally led diet OR exercise interventions, and few have focused on the unique needs of older Veterans. Peer support offers a potentially low-cost, easily scalable approach to encourage long-term dietary and physical activity change.

In this proposal the investigators seek to develop and pilot a 12-week peer-led lifestyle intervention that targets older Veterans with multiple chronic health conditions and dysmobility, in two diverse urban areas with a high percentage of underrepresented minority Veteran populations (Baltimore, MD and San Antonio, TX). The investigators will develop a theory-driven, peer-led nutrition and exercise intervention tailored for older Veterans with dysmobility. The investigators will also determine the feasibility and acceptability of the peer-led intervention as well as the estimated magnitude and potential impact on selected outcomes (i.e diet quality and mobility) in older Veterans with dysmobility and multiple chronic health conditions.

Enrollment

22 patients

Sex

All

Ages

55+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Self-reported difficulty in at least one of the following activities: Walking quickly across the street, walking one mile, ascending one flight of stairs, rising from a chair without using arms
Self-reports at least two chronic medical conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, or coronary artery disease
Speaks English

Exclusion criteria

high cardiovascular risk
using home oxygen
contraindications to an exercise intervention
dementia
regular exercise participation
current participation in a weight loss intervention
acute psychosis, major depression, or behavior that preventions group interaction