Projeto de intervenção comunitária “Em Comum-Idade”: Contribuições para a promoçãoda saúde entre idosos de Viçosa, MG, Brasil

Abstract

Actions to promote health among the elderly are extremely important for the prevention of diseases and complications arising from the aging process. In this context, the “Em Comum-Idade” community intervention project emerged. The objective of this article was to evaluate the impact of the actions of this project on anthropometric measurements and functional physical fitness of the participants at the end of the interventions. The variables analyzed were: body mass index, waist circumference, waist hip ratio, waist height ratio, power of the lower members, flexibility of upper and lower members and agility and dynamic balance. The sample consisted of 82 participants. Most participants were female, had not completed elementary school and attended less than 50% of the activities. There were no significant changes in the values of anthropometric measurements between the initial and final evaluations of the participants. Significant improvement was found for the values of tests of functional physical fitness among those who attended most of the actions of the project. It is important to maintain health promotion actions for long periods of time in order to get results that positively impact the health status and quality of life of the elderly.