Exploring the Strong People Program: Addressing Health Disparities in Seniors Case Study

Introduction

Healthcare involves multiple programs that help address various issues, such as obesity heart, and respiratory problems. The Strong People Program has been created to motivate older people to partake in healthy interventions. Such interventions include aerobic exercise, improvement of dietary skills, and strength training. This evidence-based measure was designed by Dr. Miriam Nelson’s research on osteoporosis risk factors, including bone density. The following case study will review six aspects of the Strong People Program, such as disparities, health outcomes, and the socio-ecological model’s support of the initiative.

Outcomes of the Strong People Project

The programs it implemented have had a positive effect on the target demographic. For example, it has ameliorated weight, physical activity, cardiovascular health problems, and diet in middle-aged and senior adults (Rural Health Information Hub, n.dd.).

Health Disparities and Social Determinants of Health

Some social determinants of health among the population it works with include young adult life experiences, income, and type of work (Perez et al., 2022). Poor incomes can have a rather devastating effect on a senior person’s health. Lower education has been commonly associated with multiple adverse health outcomes as well, such as diabetes and hypertension. Meanwhile, the health disparities that this group experiences are related to poverty, poor health, and adverse childhood experiences. Such factors can devastate a senior person’s health, and being aware of them is a priority for healthcare providers (MacGuire, 2020).

The Socio-Ecological Model Supporting the Implementation Process of the Project

The socio-ecological model promotes the program from all four levels of interest, as it addresses the issues people experience individually and is beneficial to society (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 2018). Moreover, this program helps people create a common goal for recovery and works with multiple valuable organizations that help verify its deeds.

Technology and Tools in Enhancing Health Promotion Efforts

Technology can be quite beneficial for this program in facilitating further health outcomes. One of the possible measures is telehealth, which can assist with counseling and communication. It is the delivery of health using technology, and it helps reduce care barriers for people who live far from healthcare services. The program could use the internet to provide information about their cause, facilitating access to their services (Ortega-Navas, 2017).

Strengths, Challenges, and Areas for Improvement

StrongPeople has provided valuable evidence in support of strength training for seniors (Seguin-Fowler et al., 2021). Their intervention for Strong Hearts, Healthy Communities helped ameliorate the performance on objective means of functional fitness (Pullyblank et al., 2019). However, the current challenges for the program are limited finances and contrasting priorities.

It is currently being assessed by a National Institutes of Health-funded study featuring 12 rural towns to implement policy, system, and environmental interventions. The benefits are that the participants experienced improvements in physical activity and strength (Rural Health Information Hub, n.d d.).

Nonetheless, sometimes trained leaders do not conduct a program, complicating the measures. As an advanced practice nurse, I could help individuals make suitable health decisions and assist them with engaging in health promotion activities. Moreover, I may motivate them and their families to partake in their health more actively.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the StrongPeople Program has been created for older and middle-aged individuals to help them with dietary skills and strength training. The disparities older people experience are usually related to earnings and education. This group’s social determinants of health are income and young adult experiences. The socio-ecological model could support the implementation of the project on all four stages, starting with assisting individuals and benefitting the community.

Telehealth and the Internet can be used to promote the goals and objectives of StrongPeople further. The program has positively affected strength training. However, there is limited funding; sometimes, trained specialists do not conduct it. As an APN, I could help people with health decisions and motivate them to partake in their health more actively.

References

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. (2018). Chapter 1: Models and frameworks | Principles of community engagement | ATSDR. Web.

MacGuire, F. A. (2020). Reducing health inequalities in aging through policy frameworks and interventions. Frontiers in Public Health, 8. Web.

Ortega-Navas, M. D. (2017). The use of new technologies as a tool for the promotion of health education. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 237, 23-29. Web.

Perez, F. P., Perez, C. A., & Chumbiauca, M. N. (2022). Insights into the social determinants of health in older adults. Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering, 15(11), 261-268. Web.

Pullyblank, K., Strogatz, D., Folta, S. C., Paul, L., Nelson, M. E., Graham, M., Marshall, G. A., Eldridge, G., Parry, S. A., Mebust, S., & Seguin, R. A. (2019). Effects of the strong hearts, healthy communities intervention on functional fitness of rural women. The Journal of Rural Health, 36(1), 104-110. Web.

Rural Health Information Hub. (n.d.). StrongPeople™ Program. Web.

Seguin-Fowler, R. A., Grocke, M., Graham, M. L., Tarabochia, D., Sriram, U., & Eldridge, G. D. (2021). Effects of StrongPeople strong bodies on functional fitness: A community-based randomized trial. Translational Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, 6(4). Web.