According to Kentucky State Vital Statistics, when rating their health on a scale ranging from excellent, to  poor, 18% of adults in Campbell County indicated “less than good”. The statistics also indicate that 8-11% of adults have diabetes and 37% suffer from hypertension. It is also worth noting that 19% of the population of Campbell County are over the age of 65.

 To combat those statistics, St. Elizabeth Hospital created a program called PrimeWise. Their website states that “too many programs for ‘older adults’ are designed to take care of you, instead of helping you to take care of yourself. They just don't seem to do much for active, energetic people who like to make the most of every minute. PrimeWise is different.” PrimeWise partnered with the Nutrition Education Program due to their successful programming in an effort to find opportunities for members to learn to improve their health and overall quality of life.

The Healthy Choices for Every Body series as presented by the Nutrition Education Program Assistants from the UK Extension Service in Northern Kentucky was the perfect opportunity to meet the needs of its members.  Between separate programs which were offered in Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties, over 60 adults attended the series of classes. The programs focused on eating healthy on a fixed income, small ways to increase physical activity, planning meals for 1 or 2 and the importance of increasing water and fiber consumption which are both issues many seniors face.

Participants wrote reviews at the end of each class and made comments such as “The sugar review was phenomenal…I am challenged by the numbers and percentages. I believe I got a clearer grasp of suggested totals (limitations) recommended.” And “Loved it. I learned a lot about (reading food) labels. Great recipes.” “Fixing and then eating the food (together) is very helpful. Otherwise I would have looked at the recipes but I wouldn’t have fixed them. I will now be fixing them at home.” “Makes me want to cook and eat more healthy.” 

The success of the program was not only evident by participant comments but also in the results of the data from a national reporting system. 66% indicated improvement in their overall diet quality with a large focus on increasing fruits and vegetables. 60% said they were doing more exercises to strengthen their muscles which is vital as older adults lose muscle mass as they age and a whopping 80% expressed an improvement in overall physical activity. The partnership between PrimeWise and the Cooperative Extension Service will continue with dates already scheduled for 2020 and beyond.