There was no evidence for a relationship between intervention effectiveness and mode of delivery or number of intervention contacts ; however , interventions which involved individually tailoring with personalized activity goals or provision of information about local opportunities in the environment may be more effective .
Conclusions Interventions in adults aged 55 to 70 years led to long term improvements in physical activity at 12 months ; however , maintenance beyond this is unclear .
Identified physical activity improvements are likely to have substantial health benefits in reducing the risk of age-related illnesses .
Background Retirement represents a major transitional life stage in middle to older age .
Changes in physical activity typically accompany this transition , which has significant consequences for health and well-being .
The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the evidence for the effect of interventions to promote physical activity in adults aged 55 to 70 years , focusing on studies that reported long-term effectiveness .
Cardiovascular disease risk reduction: the Massachusetts WISEWOMAN project.
BACKGROUND This report presents the effectiveness of the Massachusetts Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation ( WISEWOMAN ) Project ( MWWP ) in reducing the cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) risk of uninsured and underinsured women aged > or = 50 . METHODS Healthcare sites were r and omly assigned to an enhanced intervention ( EI ) or minimum intervention ( MI ) . Women enrolled at all sites received CVD risk factor screening , onsite counseling , education , referral , and follow-up as needed . Women enrolled at EI sites received additional services and specially design ed interventions , including one-on-one nutritional and physical activity counseling and group activities , such as walking groups , nutrition classes , and cultural festivals . We report results for 1443 women who attended the initial screening in 10 study sites .  Blood pressure , total cholesterol , number of servings of fruits and vegetables , and level of moderate or vigorous physical activity were assessed at baseline and 12-month follow-up screenings . Baseline data were collected between March and June 1996 ; follow-up data were collected 12 months later . RESULTS The comprehensive screenings significantly lowered the overall prevalence of hypertension , result ing in a 7 % reduction in high blood pressure among women at the EI sites ( p = 0.02 ) and a 9 % reduction at MI sites ( p = 0.009 ) . A significantly greater percentage of women became physically active at the EI sites ( 18 % ) than at the MI sites ( 6 % ) ( p = 0.04 ) . CONCLUSIONS MWWP is a promising model for providing comprehensive preventive healthcare to uninsured and underinsured women
There was no evidence for a relationship between intervention effectiveness and mode of delivery or number of intervention contacts ; however , interventions which involved individually tailoring with personalized activity goals or provision of information about local opportunities in the environment may be more effective .
Conclusions Interventions in adults aged 55 to 70 years led to long term improvements in physical activity at 12 months ; however , maintenance beyond this is unclear .
Identified physical activity improvements are likely to have substantial health benefits in reducing the risk of age-related illnesses .
Background Retirement represents a major transitional life stage in middle to older age .
Changes in physical activity typically accompany this transition , which has significant consequences for health and well-being .
The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the evidence for the effect of interventions to promote physical activity in adults aged 55 to 70 years , focusing on studies that reported long-term effectiveness .