%0 Journal Article
%T Active Aging Promotion: Results from the Vital Aging Program
%A Mariagiovanna Caprara
%A Mar¨ªa ¨¢ngeles Molina
%A Roc¨ªo Schettini
%A Marta Santacreu
%A Teresa Orosa
%A V¨ªctor Manuel Mendoza-N¨²£¿ez
%A Macarena Rojas
%A Roc¨ªo Fern¨¢ndez-Ballesteros
%J Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/817813
%X Active aging is one of the terms in the semantic network of aging well, together with others such as successful, productive, competent aging. All allude to the new paradigm in gerontology, whereby aging is considered from a positive perspective. Most authors in the field agree active aging is a multidimensional concept, embracing health, physical and cognitive fitness, positive affect and control, social relationships and engagement. This paper describes Vital Aging, an individual active aging promotion program implemented through three modalities: Life, Multimedia, and e-Learning. The program was developed on the basis of extensive evidence about individual determinants of active aging. The different versions of Vital Aging are described, and four evaluation studies (both formative and summative) are reported. Formative evaluation reflected participants¡¯ satisfaction and expected changes; summative evaluations yielded some quite encouraging results using quasi-experimental designs: those who took part in the programs increased their physical exercise, significantly improved their diet, reported better memory, had better emotional balance, and enjoyed more cultural, intellectual, affective, and social activities than they did before the course, thus increasing their social relationships. These results are discussed in the context of the common literature within the field and, also, taking into account the limitations of the evaluations accomplished. 1. Introduction The concept of aging well as a scientific field dates back to the early 1960s, within the context of the World Health Organization (WHO), when Roth highlighted the importance of health promotion and illness prevention throughout the life span, and especially in old age [1]. Most importantly, in the 1980s, one of the pioneers in the field of aging well, Fries, would stress the modifiability and plasticity of the human being throughout life and into old age, listing non-modifiable negative conditions associated with age and their correspondence with modifiable preventive factors [2¨C4]. Recently, Christensen, Doblhammer, Rau, and Vaupel noted how, since the 1950s, mortality after age 80 years has steadily fallen, with life expectancy lengthening almost in parallel with best practices over the last 150 years [5] and they showed evidence that human senescence has been delayed by a decade [6] strongly associated with ¡°healthy best practices.¡± In fact, the aging revolution is the result of falling mortality rates and the corresponding increase in life expectancy. But, these changes in the population
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/cggr/2013/817813/