A multidisciplinary model of health promotion incorporating spirituality into a successful aging intervention with African American and white elderly groups.

PURPOSE A community and faith-based intervention with elderly persons and their adult children involving religious, medical, and academic communities is described. DESIGN AND METHODS Lifestyle changes and individual and corporate forms of spirituality were affirmed using an expanded Rowe and Kahn model of successful aging. Faculty from academic, medical, state, and religious institutions presented a variety of workshops at a multichurch-sponsored conference that hosted over 500 seniors. RESULTS Postconference surveys suggested extremely favorable satisfaction rates across all groups represented. The African American religious community provided critical leadership in achieving an excellent African American participation rate. IMPLICATIONS The model described has the capacity to generate collaborations across denominational, racial, and class barriers, and has the potential of helping to unify the religious community around the important task of promoting successful aging.