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Objectives. We present a social marketing conceptual framework for Experience Corps Baltimore City (EC) in which the desired health outcome is not the promoted product or behavior. We also demonstrate the feasibility of a social marketing-based recruitment campaign for the first year of the Baltimore Experience Corps Trial (BECT), a randomized, controlled trial of the health benefits of EC participation for older adults. Methods. We recruited older adults from the Baltimore, MD, area. Participants randomized to the intervention were placed in public schools in volunteer roles designed to increase healthy behaviors. We examined the effectiveness of a recruitment message that appealed to generativity (i.e., to make a difference for the next generation), rather than potential health benefits. Results. Among the 155 participants recruited in the first year of the BECT, the average age was 69 years; 87% were women and 85% were African American. Participants reported primarily generative motives as their reason for interest in the BECT. Conclusions. Public health interventions embedded in civic engagement have the potential to engage older adults who might not respond to a direct appeal to improve their health. (Am J Public Health. 2010;100:727734. doi:10.2105/AJPH. 2009.169151) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines day-to-day variability in psychometrically defined mild cognitive impairment (MCI) status and potential predictors of changes in MCI status in an independent-living sample of urban dwelling older adults in Baltimore, Maryland. The participant sample consisted of 50 older adults, ranging in age from 50 to 80 years. Participants completed health and cognitive measures (i.e., executive function, language, memory, and global cognition) over 8 occasions within a 2-3-week period. After each testing occasion, a post hoc classification of MCI status was determined using psychometrically defined criteria based on cognitive performance. Participants who classified as MCI after one assessment often did not meet MCI criteria at subsequent occasions. Daily fluctuations in sleep duration were associated with an increased risk for MCI classification. These results demonstrate that changes in sleep may explain changes in MCI status, particularly for African Americans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]