Active You: A Novel Exercise Program for African Americans

Summary

Barriers to physical activity (PA) among African Americans (AAs) have been extensively studied, yet there is a paucity of innovative PA interventions designed to address them. In recent years, many studies have used the internet to promote PA in many settings, including the home environment, but only a few studies have recruited AAs. Without innovative and culturally relevant interventions, AAs will continue reporting extremely low levels of PA and disparate cardiovascular health outcomes. In prior work, the investigators sought the input of AA focus groups to inform the development of a technology-based Physical Activity for The Heart (PATH) intervention that leverages openly accessible platforms, such as YouTube, to promote PA in any setting. The investigators designed PATH as a culturally salient action-oriented intervention that can be accessed in any setting to promote PA among inactive AAs. In this application, the investigators propose to examine whether PATH is a feasible strategy for promoting PA among inactive AAs. In Aim 1 the investigators will conduct a randomized clinical trial that will include 30 inactive AAs to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the PATH intervention. In Aim 2 the investigators will examine the trend in PA and cardiovascular disease risk change from baseline to post-intervention. This approach is innovative because it leverages openly accessible technologies to provide a wide variety of free, enjoyable and action-oriented workout videos that match AAs preferences. This contribution will be significant because PATH could offer a novel, low-cost, and scalable strategy for promoting PA among individuals facing socio-environmental barriers to PA.

Conditions

• Cardiovascular Risk Factor
• Prediabetes
• Overweight and Obesity
• Sedentary Behavior

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

The Physical Activity for The Heart (PATH) intervention

The web-based Physical Activity for The Heart (PATH) intervention leverages openly accessible platforms, such as YouTube, to proffer workout videos that match the participants preferences. Currently, PATH includes over 90 workout videos vetted by a team of experts and curated on the PATH website in 3 controlled levels of intensity (beginner, intermediate, proficient) to foster gradual progression from low to high intensity PA in accordance with the FITT-VP (frequency, intensity, time, type, volume, progression) principle.

BEHAVIORAL

Be Active Your Way Booklet

Be Active Your Way booklet was developed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to help individuals integrate PA in their daily lives. It simply encourages individuals to increase their PA gradually and gives them examples of things that they can do.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)

  collaborator NIH

• University of Pittsburgh

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jacob Kariuki, PhD · University of Pittsburgh

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

40 Years

Max Age

70 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-10-27

Primary Completion

2021-12-31

Completion

2021-12-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations