AnnMarie Saporito, exercise physiologist, leads an exercise class at the Christamore House as part of the Wishard Exercise Health Program in Indianapolis.

But is it effective for a primary-care center to focus on supporting preventive behaviors such as exercise? That’s what Clark and his fellow researchers want to know.

As principal investigator in a project supported by the National Institute of Health (NIH), Clark developed an aging, exercise and health promotion program to spread the good word about exercise and its benefits to older adults and then to support their exercise efforts. Working with an exercise physiologist and a group leader, Clark analyzes and writes project data and results.

"I started this program about three years ago with a group of 12 ladies," Clark explained. "We have since screened about 500 ladies and have had more than 100 women attend at least one exercise session. About 50 now attend with some regularity."

According to Clark, the program is designed to provide a moderate-intensity workout for women 50 and over who receive care at the Blackburn and Westside Wishard Neighborhood Health Centers. The program consists of 20 minutes of chair-based resistance exercise and between 10 and 30 minutes of indoor walking. Most participants have never exercised before.

"Research has demonstrated that exercise at any age will improve functional status and mood, and reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes, and/or improve the management of these conditions," said Clark. "Our research interest was not focused on demonstrating these already known findings, but in developing and testing a program that would communicate this information to older adults and then support their exercise efforts.

"We are interested in how many women will participate in a program like this, how much benefit they receive in terms of perceived health and blood pressure, and in the dollar costs relative to the benefits of the program."

With two years left in the project, those results are still out, but Clark knows enough to hope the community will sustain it after the NIH grant is completed.

And now, for the good of the cause, all you need is 30 minutes a day of moderate-intensity activity for cardiovascular fitness. That’s just a good, hard walk, according to Clark. Maintaining muscle strength is important, too, especially for older adults. A work-out with light weights or some other form of resistance two days a week does the trick.

"It’s really never too late to start," said Clark.