The Association of Socioeconomic Conditions and Readiness to Learn New Ways of Performing Daily Activities in Older Adults With Functional Difficulties

Behavioral interventions for older adults can reduce difficulties in performing daily activities, hospitalizations, and mortality risk. The success of behavior change interventions, however, can be affected by a participant’s readiness to adopt changes. This study evaluates whether socioeconomic conditions, particularly financial strain affording food, are associated with readiness to change. We conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive study of baseline data from disabled older adults (N = 147) participating in an intervention to reduce physical disability. Readiness to change score was rated at the start of the intervention by interventionists as either pre-action (precontemplation = 1, contemplation = 2, preparation = 3) or action (=4). Participants reporting high financial strain affording food were more likely to have high readiness at the start of intervention; the association of this specific socioeconomic condition with readiness may be an important consideration in implementing interventions to reduce disability.