Health Motivation: A Determinant of Older Adults' Attendance at Health Promotion Programs

Abstract

The primary purpose of conducting this study¹ was to determine if there is a significant relation between health motivation and participation in health promotion programs in a sample of community-dwelling older adults (n = 106). Health motivation was measured using Cox's (1985) Health Self-Determinism Index, and participation in health promotion programs was measured by tallying the self-reported number of programs attended within the past year by each individual. The effects of selected demographic variables on these two variables were also examined. The conceptual framework guiding the study was the Health-Promoting Self-Care System Model (Simmons, 1990). Intrinsically motivated older persons attended fewer programs (p < .01) than those who were more extrinsically motivated. Higher educa-tional level (p < .001) and fewer health problems (p < .01) emerged as significant predictor variables for intrinsic health motivation, and those with less formal education attended more health promotion programs (p < .05).