Abstract
BACKGROUND: Effective education for health volunteers plays a pivotal role, considering their contribution to promoting community health. Given the aging population and its associated challenges, it is crucial to develop effective and low-cost programs to enhance the knowledge and attitudes of health volunteers and improve the quality of life for older adults. AIM: This study investigated the effect of active aging education on the knowledge and attitudes of health volunteers. METHODS: This study was conducted from November 2023 to February 2024 on 86 health volunteers at comprehensive health centers in Shiraz City. The volunteers were randomly divided into two groups: intervention and control. The data collection tool was a questionnaire. Following the pre-test, the content was delivered in six training sessions. Post-tests were administered to both groups immediately after the intervention and two months later. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 23, employing frequency analysis, the Chi-square test, the t-test, and repeated measures tests. A significance level of 0.05 was considered. RESULTS: The findings revealed that health volunteers' knowledge significantly increased after the educational intervention. There was a statistically significant difference in the mean knowledge score in the intervention group at the three-time points (before, immediately after, and two months after the intervention) based on the repeated measures test (P < 0.001). Additionally, the attitude of health volunteers improved significantly following the educational intervention (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Trained volunteers can effectively convey critical health and cultural messages, make informed decisions, and enhance the local population's access to primary healthcare. The results of this study demonstrate that the active aging educational intervention improved the knowledge and attitudes of health volunteers. Therefore, leveraging the potential of health volunteers to teach active aging can improve the health and well-being of the elderly population.