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Characterizing the Health of Older Rural Australians Attending Rural Events: Implications for Future Health Promotion Opportunities

Version 3 2024-06-19, 09:35
Version 2 2024-06-04, 00:21
Version 1 2023-10-23, 02:46
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-19, 09:35 authored by TL Schumacher, Laura AlstonLaura Alston, L Wakely, R Latter, K Squires, S Heaney, LJ Brown
This paper describes the health of older Australians (>65 years) attending rural events to inform health promotion interventions for rural populations. This cross-sectional study collected survey data and objective health measures between 2017 and 2020 at two events held in rural New South Wales, Australia. Participants included in the analysis were adults > 65 years of age. Data included demographic and health information, anthropometric measures (height, weight, waist circumference), and dietary and physical activity data. A total of 256 people > 65 years participated. Our sample, which was mostly male (59.0%), contained people aged between 66 and 75 years (72.3%). Participants lived in either a large rural (34.0%) or small rural town (22.3%), with low levels of education (60.9% did not complete high school). Dietary quality was rated as below average. All but 17.2% of the participants reported having a health condition. The risk of a health condition was associated with increasing age, lower education, and higher waist circumference, but not remoteness. Rural events may provide an opportunity to access, engage with, and understand the health of older rural Australians, especially males. They may offer ideal contexts for health and nutrition promotion opportunities in rural areas where access to health professionals is limited.

History

Journal

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Volume

19

Article number

3011

Pagination

1-14

Location

Basel, Switzerland

ISSN

1660-4601

eISSN

1660-4601

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Issue

5

Publisher

MDPI