Enhancing Capacity in Churches to Implement PA Programs

Summary

Despite the benefits of physical activity (PA) to prevent cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases, few adult Latinas meet PA guidelines. Given the central role of churches within the Latino community and their commitment to the well-being of their members, they are ideal settings for health promotion. Evidence-based interventions (EBIs) for increasing PA and reducing obesity exist, but few PA interventions go to scale. Investigators propose to enhance Faith in Action with three organization-level strategies designed to increase program fit and effectiveness: 1) training church leaders in health promotion; 2) tailoring messaging to enhance fit between Faith in Action and each unique church environment; and 3) empowering community health workers (promotoras) to advocate for organizational change. Given the need to improve strategies to sustain health programs in community settings, investigators will test the influence of two additional sustainment strategies: 1) strengthening community collaborations and 2) providing technical support. Twenty-eight churches will be randomly assigned to a Standard EBI group (Faith in Action as originally implemented), an Enhanced group (Standard intervention + organizational-level implementation strategies), or an Enhanced + Sustainment group (Enhanced implementation group + sustainment strategies). Investigators will test the proposed implementation strategies on organization-level change and individual behavior in diverse churches for a 12-month intervention and 6-month follow-up period. The proposed study aims to: 1) Test the short and long-term impacts of organization-level implementation strategies in 2 Enhanced conditions on organizational outcomes compared to the Standard EBI condition and 2) Examine individual behavior change among Latinas (N=560) in churches in the 2 Enhanced conditions compared to the Standard EBI condition. The study's primary hypothesis is that Latina's receiving the Enhanced interventions will increase their PA levels significantly more than those receiving the Standard Faith in Action intervention, and the improvements in PA will be sustained. If successful, findings from the current study will provide evidence of organizational-level strategies for uptake, sustainment, and implementation strategies for scale-up of PA interventions to increase PA and reduce chronic disease in churches across the US.

Conditions

• Cardiovascular Diseases

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Faith in Action

Interpersonal level: Group exercise classes offered 6 days/week (walking, cardio dance, strength training), Kickoff event Individual level: Motivational Interviewing calls every 6 months, Health handouts on 14 topics distributed at PA classes

BEHAVIORAL

Faith in Action+

Standard Faith in Action Intervention plus: 1) Health Behavior Change Workshop for FBO leaders; 2) Targeted Messaging; and 3) Empowerment Training for Promotoras

BEHAVIORAL

Faith in Action++

Enhanced Condition plus: 1) Foster community collaborations and 2) Provide maintenance support

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Washington University School of Medicine

  collaborator OTHER

• University of California, Berkeley

  collaborator OTHER

• University of California, San Diego

  collaborator OTHER

• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

  collaborator NIH

• San Diego State University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Elva Arredondo, PhD · San Diego State University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-11-15

Primary Completion

2027-02-28

Completion

2027-02-28

Countries

• United States

Study Locations