A prospective quasi-experimental design involved a total of 520 senior participants living in 6 rural
villages, who were clustered and conveniently assigned to 2 intervention groups. Senior nursing students
were the interveners for group 1 and community peer supporters for group 2. The primary outcome measure
was the change in health-related behavior measured on the geriatric health promotion scale (GHPS). The
secondary outcome comprised changes in the short form of the Chinese geriatric depression scale (CGDS-15),
fasting blood sugar, total cholesterol, waist circumference and blood pressure. Paired-t test and analysis of
covariance were used for statistical inspection.