Fit & Strong! Plus

Our Plus version of the Fit & Strong! program includes an evidence-based weight management intervention specially tailored for seniors.

The Fit & Strong! Plus program adheres to the same core set of standards that ensure a maximum benefit to all participants while including custom weight management fitness and educational activities.

Core Program Features
  • Evidence-based program
  • Designed to promote physical activity and
    behavior change for persons with osteoarthritis
  • 24 Sessions – 90 minutes each
  • First 60 minutes focus on flexibility, low-impact aerobics, and lower body function
  • Final 30 minutes focus on health education and group problem solving
  • Participants develop personalized action plans
  • Designed to be effective, fun, and engaging
Fit & Strong! Plus+
  • Combines evidence-based interventions for weight management and physical activity
  • Program targets:
    • weight
    • dietary intake
    • physical activity
    • Osteoarthritis-associated symptoms of lower extremity pain and stiffness
    • anxiety / depression, and
    • self-efficacy for weight loss and exercise
  • Designed for overweight / obese adults with Osteoarthritis

Publications Heading link

Fitzgibbon, M. L., Tussing-Humphreys, L., Schiffer, L., Smith-Ray, R., Marquez, D. X., DeMott, A. D., … & Hughes, S. L. (2020). Fit and Strong! Plus: Twelve and eighteen month follow-up results for a comparative effectiveness trial among overweight/obese older adults with osteoarthritis. Preventive medicine, 141, 106267.  (Document will open in a new tab)

Hughes, S. L., Tussing-Humphreys, L., Schiffer, L., Smith-Ray, R., Marquez, D. X., DeMott, A. D., … & Fitzgibbon, M. L. (2018). Fit & strong! plus trial outcomes for obese older adults with osteoarthritis. The Gerontologist, 60(3), 558-570.  (Document will open in a new tab)

McLeod, A., Schiffer, L., Castellanos, K., DeMott, A., Olender, S., Fitzgibbon, M., … & Tussing-Humphreys, L. (2020). Impact of Physical Activity and Weight Loss on Fat Mass, Glucose Metabolism, and Inflammation in Older African Americans with Osteoarthritis. Nutrients, 12(11), 3299.  (Document will open in a new tab)

Mears, M., Tussing-Humphreys, L., Cerwinske, L., Tangney, C., Hughes, S. L., Fitzgibbons, M., & Gomez-Perez, S. (2019). Associations between alternate healthy eating index-2010, body composition, osteoarthritis severity, and interleukin-6 in older overweight and obese african american females with self-reported osteoarthritis. Nutrients, 11(1), 26.  (Document will open in a new tab)

Smith-Ray, R. L., Fitzgibbon, M. L., Tussing-Humphreys, L., Schiffer, L., Shah, A., Huber, G. M., … & Hughes, S. L. (2014). Fit and Strong! Plus: Design of a comparative effectiveness evaluation of a weight management program for older adults with osteoarthritis. Contemporary clinical trials, 37(2), 178-188.  (Document will open in a new tab)

Vergis, S., Schiffer, L., White, T., McLeod, A., Khudeira, N., Demott, A., … & Tussing-Humphreys, L. (2018). Diet quality and nutrient intake of urban overweight and obese primarily African American older adults with osteoarthritis. Nutrients, 10(4), 485.  (Document will open in a new tab)

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