Participation of Widowed Older Adults in a Self-Care and Health Education Program: Application of the Theory of Reasoned Action

Decreased morbidity and mortality are just two of the documented outcomes from health promotion activities. Older adults who have recently lost a spouse are potentially at greater risk of compromised health and of becoming more functionally dependent. They can potentially benefit from health promotion programs designed to address these issues. Unfortunately, efforts to attract members of the older population to many established health promotion programs has not been entirely successful. A theoretically guided examination of those factors that could potentially influence participation in health interventions is crucial. The Theory of Reasoned Action is a framework that has proven useful in designing and implementing health promotion programs for a variety of populations. The purpose of this study is to determine to what extent the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) predicts attendance in Pathfinders, a self-care and health education program. A group (N=35) of older adults (age 50+) who had been widowed were recruited to participate in a series of weekly classes and asked to complete self-administered questionnaires. The average age for the sample was 66.5 (SD=7.9), with a median length of widowhood equivalent to 9 months. They attended an average of 7.5 classes out of 11. Thirty-three of the 35 participants (94%) were female. Only two factors had a significant correlation to attendance. Those who were more recently widowed and who were married longer prior to widowhood tended to attend more classes. None of the components of the TRA model itself were associated with attendance to the classes. However, attitude toward behavior and normative expectations did correlate to the intention to attend. Future research should attempt to use multiple indicators to measure the TRA components when applied to a health promotion program. Additional work is also clearly needed to more systematically assess those potential unanticipated obstacles to participation in self-care programs that could ultimately benefit participants overall health, well being, and functional independence