A study investigating the effects of a brief education intervention emphasizing principal components of the DASH diet among community-living older adults

This study investigated the effects of a brief education intervention emphasizing the main components of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet among a convenience sample of adults sixty years and over. Specifically, fruits, vegetable, and low-fat dairy product consumption patterns of these older adults living in subsidized housing units who utilized a mobile grocery market were examined. Additionally, self-efficacy for change items as well as beliefs associated with diet and blood pressure were investigated as mediating variables.; Three survey instruments (baseline, intervention, post-intervention) were designed to conduct this random-assignment, treatment-control study. Various psychosocial domains were incorporated into the educational mailing and telephone intervention including the Health Belief Model and Social Cognitive Theory. Barrier-counseling strategies to foster self-efficacy for change were implemented.; Recruitment efforts yielded 191 participants with a response rate of 78.6%. Over 500 contacts were made during the recruitment, baseline, intervention and post-intervention phases. Based on post-intervention results, no significant changes in health beliefs associated with diet, select foods and blood pressure were detected. Regarding self-efficacy, significant differences were detected in pre and post fruit mean scores among control and treatment group respondents who scored high in self-efficacy for eating more fruits and those who did not. Post-intervention analyses also revealed no significant differences in select dairy product consumption by group.; In contrast, a significant increase in fruit and vegetable consumption means scores was detected in the intervention group as compared to the control group of approximately one serving each day. Reported illness or condition, which made a person change the foods consumed, was found to be the major mediating variable that was statistically significant. Post hoc test analyses suggested that either the presence or lack of reported illness or condition affected outcomes of this nutrition education intervention on fruit and vegetable consumption patterns among intervention group participants. The estimates of effect size for these relationships were relatively small. Two primary limitations were the brief follow-up period and the small convenience sample of older adults. Recruitment strategies and the educational intervention used might assist professionals in the design of resources targeting community-dwelling older adults.