ERIC Number: EJ841038
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0270-1960
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Available Date: N/A
Prescribing Exercise for Older Adults: A Needs Assessment Comparing Primary Care Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, and Physician Assistants
Dauenhauer, Jason A.; Podgorski, Carol A.; Karuza, Jurgis
Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, v26 n3 p81-99 2006
To inform the development of educational programming designed to teach providers appropriate methods of exercise prescription for older adults, the authors conducted a survey of 177 physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners (39% response rate). The survey was designed to better understand the prevalence of exercise prescriptions, attitudes, barriers, and educational needs of primary care practitioners toward older adults. Forty-seven percent of primary care providers report not prescribing exercise for older adults; 85% of the sample report having no formal training in exercise prescription. Practitioner attitudes were positive toward exercise, but were not predictive of their exercise prescribing behavior, which indicates that education efforts aimed at changing attitudes as a way of increasing exercise-prescribing behaviors would not be sufficient. In order to facilitate and reinforce practice changes to increase exercise-prescribing behaviors of primary care providers, results suggest the need for specific skill training on how to write an exercise prescription and motivate older adults to follow these prescriptions. (Contains 6 tables.)
Descriptors: Needs Assessment, Physicians, Older Adults, Primary Health Care, Allied Health Occupations, Caregiver Attitudes, Therapeutic Recreation, Geriatrics, Physical Activities, Questionnaires, Barriers, Incidence, Educational Needs, Exercise Physiology
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A