A comparison of two models of health-promoting lifestyle in rural elderly Taiwanese women

The purposes of this study were to: (1) examine the relations among age, marital status, social class, perceived health, self-care agency. health-promoting lifestyle, and well-being in two groups of rural elderly Taiwanese women and (2) validate and compare two models using the two age groups of rural elderly Taiwanese women. Based on the conceptualizations of the major study variables in Orem's self-care model (1995), Fender's health promotion model (1987), and other scholars' ideas (Hartweg, 1990; Simmons, 1990), a theoretical model of health-promoting lifestyle was proposed for this study. A survey-interview method was used for data collection. Two groups of elderly women were recruited for data analysis: 168 in the younger group and 116 in the older group. The mean age was 64.66 in the younger group and 75.59 in the older group. Two models of health-promoting Lifestyle were tested with a path analysis, using the Linear Structural Relations 8 (LISREL 8) program. The resultant models yielded chi (2) of 13.69 with 9 degrees of freedom (p = 0.13) in the younger group and chi (2) of 15.76 with 10 degrees of freedom (p = 0.11) in the older group. Other fit indices also indicate the two models fit the data well. Community nurses can assess, identify, and use effective interventions for rural elderly women on a basis of the resulting models.