Family Practice Nursing Commons^™

Heart Smart Holidays: Coping With Stress, Staying Active, And Healthy Cooking Strategies For Seniors In Cleveland County, Lauren Ridgeway

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

This Doctor of Nursing Practice Project assessed whether attending community group meetings focusing on stress, staying active, and healthy eating during the holidays, could influence cardiovascular disease awareness, mental health awareness, and quality of life of senior citizens in Cleveland County. A convenience sample of 6 participants attended the Coping with Stress and Staying Active event while 10 participants attended the Healthy Cooking Strategies event. The objectives were measured using a pretest posttest design before and after the presentations. There was strong evidence (t(9) = -13.597, p < .05) that the group seminar on managing stress and staying active during the holiday season improved the mental health awareness of participants. Data also showed a significant increase in Cardiovascular Disease Awareness from pretest to posttest (t(5) = 3.246, p < .05) after the seminar on healthy cooking strategies. The project raised community awareness to the importance of managing stress, staying active, and making small nutritional changes to positively impact the cardiovascular health of Seniors.