February 11, 2008
Active seniors curb health care costs
Group Health research supports health club benefit
Seattle — Group Health seniors are not only sweating to the oldies
in local health clubs, they are also keeping health care costs down,
according to a study by researchers at Group Health and the University of
Washington (UW). The study appears in the January 2008 issue of the journal
Preventing Chronic Disease.
The research found long-term total health care costs grew more slowly for
older Group Health patients who regularly used their
SilverSneakers health club benefit. Group Health members age 65 and
older can choose either or both of two activity programs:
EnhanceFitness, or SilverSneakers, which includes access to a health
club and free physical activity classes geared to seniors' needs. Group
Health helped develop both programs.
"Physical activity can help seniors improve their balance to prevent
falls, boost cardiovascular health to prevent heart attacks, and improve
overall metabolism to help delay diabetes onset and complication of
diabetes," said study co-author Dr. James LoGerfo, a professor of medicine
and health services at the UW and an affiliate investigator at the Group
Health Center for Health Studies.
The researchers studied nearly 5,000 senior Group Health members who
participated in SilverSneakers. More than 9,000 control members were matched
to participants by age and sex. By year two, compared with control
participants, SilverSneakers participants had significantly fewer inpatient
admissions and lower total health care costs.
Lorraine and Jack Swisher of Bellevue are Group Health members and
regulars at the Bellevue Family YMCA SilverSneakers. Age 73 and 75,
respectively, they both have chronic conditions and believe their increased
physical activity has let them stay healthy and save their funds to travel
to Antarctica, snorkel the Great Barrier Reef, and go on a recent safari in
Africa. Granted, few seniors are quite as active — or well-traveled — as the
Swishers, but the researchers said that all people can benefit from regular
physical activity.
"The class is a very social time for everyone, plus it helps me with my
balance and flexibility," said Lorraine. "The exercises can be adapted to
any ability, and you can easily practice them while traveling or at home."
Dr. Huong Q. Nguyen, assistant professor of biobehavioral nursing systems
at the UW, is the study's lead author. She stresses the important takeaway
from this study is for older adults, especially on fixed incomes, to remain
active and incorporate physical activity in their lives for many reasons,
including cutting down on unexpected health care costs. The other important
message is for health plans to set up an infrastructure to support and
encourage wide adoption of a physical activity benefit for seniors.
"SilverSneakers is just one of many programs that health plans can offer
as a benefit to their senior population," said LoGerfo. "Another is
EnhanceFitness, a program for seniors available locally in community and
senior centers around Puget Sound and Spokane. The program focuses on simple
exercises that build not only flexibility and aerobic fitness but also
balance and strength, which are the most important elements for preventing
falls."
LoGerfo and his colleagues found similar cost-saving results for
participants in EnhanceFitness, formerly called Lifetime Fitness, in a
previous Group Health study published in 2003 in the American Journal of
Preventive Medicine.
LoGerfo and Nguyen collaborated on the current study of SilverSneakers
with colleagues at Indiana University, Veterans Affairs, University of North
Carolina, Dartmouth Medical School, and the U.S. Army. The study was
conducted jointly by Group Health and the UW's Health Promotion Research
Center, with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and
Group Health.
About Group Health Center for Health Studies
Founded in 1947, Group Health is a Seattle-based, consumer-governed,
nonprofit health care system that coordinates care and coverage. For 25
years, Group Health Center for Health Studies has conducted research on
preventing, diagnosing, and treating major health problems. Government and
private research grants provide its main funding.
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