N.C.O.A. Pilot Project Follow-up

This is a follow-up to the article which ran in the April 2004 Vital Force, p. 31. There were a total of 18 sites that participated in the collaborative project of The National Council on Aging (NCOA), The Healer Within Foundation (HWF), and the Institute of Integral Qigong and Tai Chi (IIQTC). Also joining in was the Research Dept. from the University of IL, and the Center for Healthy Aging.

Participants numbered 349, with the mean age of 73, and were placed into two groups, experienced and novice. Eighty-nine percent of all participants enjoyed the program; 91 percent stated that they wished to continue, and 67 percent of all participants found the program helped them to be more active than usual. Most importantly, both groups significantly reduced their perceived stress from pre- to post-test as measured by the combined PSS score.

The results of this pilot project were presented to the annual conference in San Francisco in mid-April by Jim Firman, CEO of NCOA and Roger Jahnke, OMD, to a packed room, where interest was high, and feedback was enthusiastic. Both the NCOA and the ASA have moved three very interesting things onto their agendas: falls prevention, physical activity, and chronic disease self-managed care, all of which are addressed by Qigong and Tai Chi.

In addition, another very important meeting was held with the research team from University of Illinois and the key players of the Center for Healthy Aging, all of whom agreed that the preliminary findings merit further investigation. NCOA representatives expressed interest in a much more rigorous study and the capacity to find funding to do so. There was also discussion of some other interesting steps: 1) to catalogue Qigong and Tai Chi activity throughout the US and 2) to convene a panel of experts to further refine the needs of the aging community and the best pathways to meet the needs through Qigong and Tai Chi.

According to Dr. Jahnke, the NCOA was very happy with the pilot. It has triggered three things:

1. A national roundtable will be convened to explore the topic of Qigong and Tai Chi with research agency and a few Qigong and Tai Chi experts at the table.

2. A second, much more rigorous pilot will (may) be implemented.

3. The details will be worked out for how the program (Easy Chi or some other name) will be distributed, how facilitators will be trained, and how much it will cost.

These are huge accomplishments, and Deanne Hodgson and I are proud to have participated in their leveraging.