Keys to Embracing Aging Program Expansion

The overall goal of the Keys to Embracing Aging is to teach individuals in rural communities healthy and safe behaviors and the skills necessary to improve their health-related life quality and overall well-being. A lifetime of healthy behaviors and decision-making can even influence longevity and the health of future generations. Based on knowledge gained through centenarian and longevity studies, Keys to Embracing Aging is a 12 month Cooperative Extension program that reinforces 12 healthy lifestyle behaviors, ranging from healthful eating, physical, social and mental activity to personal safety, stress and financial management. As a successful program that is growing in popularity, we are proposing to scale-up this program at the statewide level throughout Kansas and Kentucky by providing advanced training to 42 rural county Extension agents (22 from Kansas and 20 from Kentucky) and implementing a year-long Keys to Embracing Aging Challenge program across 22 Kansas and 20 Kentucky counties. The Keys to Embracing Aging Challenge, augments the existing Keys to Embracing Aging curriculum, which currently has a lot of flexibility in how it is presented. The Challenge will enroll a cohort of participants (15 per county for a total of 660 participants) who will attend one program per month for an entire year and will be challenged individually and across counties to improve upon 12 health and safety behaviors, or “keys”. One key will be presented each month, and a 30-day improvement challenge and assessment will follow. Upon completion of that challenge, each cohort of participants will report back their successes and embark upon the next key. Evaluation data will be collected 30 days following each key completion, and at 3- and 6-months post program completion. Given the success of the Keys to Embracing Aging program pilot, we are excited to scale-up this program to a Challenge to help further inform and educate rural community members about the importance and long term effects of safety and healthy lifestyles.