Paper
Sunday, November 4, 2007
169
Utilizing an Academic Nurse-Managed Center Network to Support Evidence-Based Scholarship and Health Promotion of Older Adults
Carol A. Smith, DSN, RN, MSN, CRNP, FNAP, School of Nursing, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA, Maureen E. Leonardo, MN, CNE, CRNP, BC, School of Nursing, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, and Tine Hansen-Turton, BA, MGA, National Nursing Centers Consortium, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
| Learning Objective #1: identify key elements that created an effective collaboration for a community-based service and research project in an older adult population. |
| Learning Objective #2: apply “lessons learned” in the “Walk and Win” project to replicate the model in other patient populations and settings. |
The National Nursing Centers Consortium (NNCC), established in 1996, as the first national association of Nurse-Managed Health Centers (NMHCs) in the United States, enhances the ability of NMHCs to provide health services to vulnerable populations. Although most of the 100 member centers provide primary care, 12 are Nurse Managed Wellness Centers (NMWCs) that provide health promotion and disease prevention services for underserved populations, often for older adults. With the assistance of the NNCC staff, faculty in six centers planned and implemented a project to demonstrate NMWCs impact on older adult quality of life. The “Walk and Win” program, provided in one of the centers, grounded in Health Promotion Model (Pender, Murdaugh & Parsons, 2002) principles was standardized into an 8 week model. The NNCC facilitated submission of a grant for funding, and provided ongoing management of the multi-site initiative. The program was conducted by faculty in the six wellness centers. Older adult community-based elders (174) and nursing students (62), supervised by faculty mentors, completed the study. Outcome measures provided evidence of impact and best practice potential (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2005). Findings included evidence that older adults would actively participate and complete the program (94%). Elder participants post intervention results included decreased limitations due to physical (24%) and mental (21%) health, and an improved level of energy (16%). Student participants reported increased interest in health promotion and a better understanding of community-based older adult health lifestyle. Data also revealed patterns of chronic disease in community-based elders that further supports the value of health promotion interventions in this population. Outcomes support replication of "Walk and Win" as a best practice that could be translated to applications in other settings. Lessons learned provide a template for other networks interested in testing health promotion models in community-based settings.