Promoting Healthy Lifestyles in Urban and Rural Elders

Abstract

The daily or frequent practice of health promotion activities by elders is critical to maximize health, decrease disabilities, and enhance well-being. The purposes of this descriptive correlational study was to (a) determine differences in 244 urban and rural elders and (b) relationships among health promotion activities, perceived health, functional health, perceived level of social support, and demographic characteristics. Data were analyzed using descriptive and linear regression to determine that the perceived level of social support was the significant predictor variable for the overall practice of health promotion. Race and functional health were significant predictors of lesser degree. The activities of exercise, nutrition, safety, and substance use were significant to urban and rural elders with different predicator variables for each activity. Keywords: health promotion, perceived health, functional health, social support, urban, rural, elders http://dx.doi.org/10.14574/ojrnhc.v1i2.490