The emotional benefits of health promotion for African American women have not been well-described. We explored the effects of a health promotion program on emotional well-being in African American women aged ³ 40 years, recruited from Sunday church services in Baltimore City. Churches were randomized to either a spiritual (SI) or non-spiritual (NSI) nutrition and physical activity intervention. All participants completed a baseline screening including demographics, measurements, dietary assessment, the Yale Physical Activity Survey, and the General Well-Being (GWB) Schedule. Staff health educators led 20 weekly sessions, and church lay leaders led the remainder for one year. Participants completed a follow-up screening analogous to baseline screening. To date, 155 women have completed all screenings. SI participants (n=108) increased total GWB scores by 6.8 points, while NSI participants (n=47) decreased total GWB scores by 1.1 points (p=0.0025), with the most significant subscale differences observed for depression (p=0.0085) and anxiety (p=0.0014). SI women lost one inch from the waist and increased physical activity by 139 kcal/day while NSI women gained 0.9 inches on the waist (p=0.003) and decreased physical activity by 105 kcal/day (p=0.04). There were no significant differences between intervention groups in weight or dietary changes. Regression analysis showed intervention group to be the only significant (p=0.05) predictor of GWB change adjusting for age, changes in waist, physical activity, or glucose, number of sessions attended, employment, marital status, and household income (r2=0.15, p=0.008). A spiritual nutrition and physical activity intervention appears to improve emotional well-being more than a non-spiritual intervention.
Learning Objectives: Participants in this session will be able to: 1. Describe the results of a spiritual health promotion program for African American women. 2. Assess the benefits of health promotion on emotional well-being in African American women
Keywords: Community-Based Health Promotion, Well-Being
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.