Research Review

New Go4Life Campaign Focuses on Fitness for Older Adults

Being physically active is vital to maintaining health and independence as we age, and a new federal campaign for people 50 and older will help them to get active and keep going. Introduced by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Go4Life campaign encourages sedentary older adults to reap health benefits by making physical activity part of their daily lives. Only 25% of people aged 65-74 say they engage in regular physical activity.

Go4Life was presented at a briefing on exercise and aging on Capitol Hill and highlighted the public-private partnership central to the campaign—a Go4Life team that will work to bring the campaign into communities across the United States. The team includes the NIH, other agencies in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and national organizations, corporations, insurers, healthcare providers, and nonprofit organizations.

Go4Life's participating organizations will incorporate campaign resources into their own health and wellness activities, disseminating Go4Life web links and materials to their members, employees, and customers. Many partners will directly sponsor events or community activities aimed at engaging older adults in exercise and physical activity as the campaign moves forward.

The campaign was conceived, and is being led, by the National Institute on Aging (NIA). The NIA will work with the Go4Life community on events and will highlight participating organizations and their activities on the campaign website.

"If we want to become a healthy and fit nation, we need to increase the number of Americans who are healthy at every stage of life," said U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA. "Go4Life provides older adults with the tools and resources to get moving and keep moving. With the release of the National Prevention Strategy, we are moving our healthcare system from a focus on sickness and disease to a focus on wellness and prevention."

— Source: National Institutes of Health