Abstract

PURPOSE
This study is designed to develop a health promotion program for improvement of health status by means of a change of life-style and health behavior in the elderly. The purpose of this study is to provide a basis for nursing intervention strategies to promote health behaviors.
METHOD
The health promotion program consisted of health education, group discussion, emotional support, health and telephone counsel. As a quasi-experimental design, the none-quivalent control group pretest-posttest design was utilized for this study. The subjects of this study consisted of 50 people, over 60 years of age attending 2 senior colleges in S city. They were divided into two groups: 24 in the experimental group and 26 in the control group. Data was collected from July 2, 2001 to August 21, 2001. For the analysis, SPSS PC 10.0 Window version was adopted and descriptive analysis, x2-test, t-test, paired t-test, MANOVA were used for data analysis.
RESULT
The health behavior and life satisfaction of the elderly improved significantly (F=18.305, p=.000 ; F=17.478, p=.000). But there is no significant difference in the perceived health status(F=3.807, p=.057).
CONCLUSION
The health promotion program is confirmed as proper to promote the health in the elderly. In addition, assessment and support will be simultaneously done to manage the health of the elderly. Finally this study supports intervention for the elderly and provides a basis for further investigations.

• Keywords: Health promotion program; Health behavior; Perceived health status; Life satisfaction