LAUSR

The number of people aged 60 years or older is increasing over the world. According to the World Health Organization, keeping the health and functional independence of older people is one of the major challenges facing the European region. Older people in Lithuania are not linked to take care of their health. As a result, most of the people aged 65 years or older have a poor health. In 2018, 51.6 % of people aged 65 or older had limited knowledge of health literacy in health promotion. In order to change health-related behavior, Kaunas city municipality Public health bureau started to run a healthy ageing project. The project started in September 2018 and finished in December 2020. The aim of the project was to improve the health literacy level of Kaunas city citizens aged 60 years or older and to form positive changes in their health behaviour by implementing public health promotion program in Kaunas city. Different evidence-based physical activities were organized during the project: taichi, line dancing, aquatic exercise, functional training, and physiotherapy exercise. 888 residents aged over 60 years participated in 816 project activities. Healthy cooking classes with professional chefs were also organized for older people. As a result, 120 elderly people gained knowledge and skills in property nutrition during 40 healthy cooking classes. To improve older people's mental health, psycho-emotional activities such as mindfulness-awareness and brainstorming sessions were organized. A total of 314 older people participated in the 37 trainings of improving the psycho-emotional state. Women were more likely to participate in health promotion activities. In order to attract more men, collaboration and involvement of local communities was outgoing. Empowering older people to make healthy choices can help to prolong the autonomy of older people and thus bring significant economic and social benefits. Collaboration and involvement of local communities can bring relevant effect for public health in building complex strategy of healthy aging.