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Innov Aging
Innov Aging
innovateage
Innovation in Aging
2399-5300 Oxford University Press US 

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.890
igaa057.890
Abstracts
Session 2927 (Poster)
Dementia and Cognitive Impairment I
AcademicSubjects/SOC02600
Telephone-Based Health Coaching: Reduction in Alzheimer’s Risk Behaviors
Rhodes Annie 1 Wilkerson Taylor 2 Inker Jennifer 1 Richardson Joann 3 Zanjani Faika 1 1 
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, United States
2 
VCU, School of Social Work, Richmond, Virginia, United States
3 
VCU, Richmond, Virginia, United States
2020 
16 12 2020 
16 12 2020 
4 Suppl 1 Program Abstracts from The GSA 2020 Annual Scientific Meeting “Turning 75: Why Age Matters”278 278
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.2020This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Abstract
Objective: Explore the feasibility of integrating intensive, telephone-based health coaching programs in low-income senior housing communities to reduce Alzheimer’s risk behaviors. Design: Participants meeting study criteria: 60 years or older, a working telephone, no cognitive diagnoses, income below 1,000 USD monthly, and active cardiovascular or diabetic health symptoms were recruited from low-income housing units. Engagement in Alzheimer’s risk behaviors: Cigarette use, alcohol overuse, polypharmacy, inactivity, depression, and cognition status, were measured at enrollment, and 12 weeks post. Weekly coaching sessions focused on reducing behavioral risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Setting: Low-income senior apartments in Richmond, Virginia Participants: Twenty older adults, living in low income senior high rises. Participants were majority (95%) African-American (Mean= 69 years, SD=4.17, Range=61-77). Intervention: Participants engaged in a call with a coach for 12 weeks, focused on Alzheimer’s risk reduction. Participants identified with coach specific behaviors to target. Primary Outcome Measure: Feasibility of telephone-based health coaching to reduce Alzheimer’s Risk Behaviors. Feasibility is defined as participant engagement in health coaching and self-rated health outcomes. Results: Of the original 20 enrollees, 19 (95%) participated in coaching sessions. On average, 8.75 sessions were completed. All participants rated their experience as positive, and self-reported an improvement in health and healthy behaviors, in exit interviews. The coaching experience was rated 94.11 on a scale from (0-100). Participants rated their health coach, on average, 90.44 on a scale from (0-100). Participants rated their health improved as 92.37 on a scale from (0-100). Conclusion: Telephone-based health coaching was feasible based on participant engagement.