Helping the Elderly Walk Tall Longer

The National Institutes of Health has announced it will devote $29.5 million in Economic Recovery Act funds toward creating activity programs that will delay or even prevent physical disability in elderly people.

Using the $29.5 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the University of Florida's Institute on Aging will work to find ways to help elderly people retain the ability to walk - the key to maintaining their ability to live independently in and contribute to their communities.

The Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders - LIFE - research program will involve 1,600 people aged 70 to 89, considered to be at risk of walking disability, defined as the inability to walk a quarter of a mile or four blocks.

"Limitations in walking ability compromise independence and contribute to the need for assistive care," said Evan C. Hadley, M.D., director of National Institutes on Aging, Division of Geriatrics and Clinical Gerontology. "Older people with impaired walking are less likely to remain in the community, have higher rates of certain diseases and death, and experience a poorer quality of life. A successful intervention might help prevent these bad outcomes."

The LIFE Study participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group will follow a structured intervention consisting of walking at moderate intensity, stretching, balance and lower extremity strength training; the control group will participate in a health education program. The participants will be followed for about three years. Researchers will evaluate whether, compared to health education, the physical activity intervention reduces the risk of major walking disability, serious fall injuries and disability in activities of daily living, and whether it improves cognitive function. They will also assess the cost-effectiveness of the intervention.

"There is a lot of evidence indicating that exercise can help in preventing diseases, such as diabetes, among older people. But we do not know whether and how a specific regimen might prevent walking disability in older people who are at risk of losing mobility," said NIA Director Richard J. Hodes, M.D. in a press release. "This research is critically important at a time when the population is aging and new interventions should be sought to keep people healthy and functioning in the community longer."

Also See:
How the Recovery Act Could Help You
Doctors to Treat More Elderly, Minorities by 2020
Aging Baby Boomers Flocking to Doctors

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