Physical activity program for seniors through SRPH showing positive results

Fit & Strong!, an evidence-based physical activity program for seniors, has been successfully implemented by the Brazos Valley Area Agency on Aging and the Navasota Department of Parks and Recreation, reaching more than 200 seniors in the Brazos Valley.

Both agencies met at the Brazos Valley Council of Governments recently to discuss methods for continued distribution and ways to further promote the program, which began from grants awarded by the Community Research Center for Senior Health, a partnership between and the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) School of Rural Public Health and Scott & White Healthcare.

“What’s been really gratifying about this activity is that we have been able to implement this program in the Brazos Valley as well as some of the surrounding rural areas,” said Marcia Ory, Ph.D., M.P.H., Regents and Distinguished Professor of the TAMHSC-School of Rural Public Health.

“The feedback from the program has been very positive,” Dr. Ory added. “An 80-year old man in the community wrote to tell me, ‘Your adult-aged education classes have inspired and educated me to embrace the healthy advice and joy of walking.’ Later, I saw him on the streets of downtown Bryan, and he was happily walking around, something that would not have been so easy before the class.”

Three members of the TAMHSC-School of Rural Public Health Program on Healthy Aging staff have been certified as master trainers and will be working to further educate and promote the Fit & Strong! program.

Due to its success in the Brazos Valley, other communities have adapted the program to aid cancer survivors as well as the seniors.