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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Marlyn Hudson, MPH1, Veronica J. Oates, MS2, Aimee James, PhD, MPH3, Ethel Jackson, MPH1, and Marci K. Campbell, PhD1. (1) Dept. of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Box 7400, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, 919-966-0355, allicock@email.unc.edu, (2) Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box #7461, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7461, (3) Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 100 West Drive, CB#7295, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
Collaborating with African American churches offers a vehicle to deliver culturally appropriate health promotion programs. WATCH (Wellness for African Americans Through Churches) is a multi-level intervention to improve diet, physical activity, and screening for prevention of colorectal cancer (CRC) in rural African American churches in North Carolina. As part of the study 48 women and 15 men in six churches were trained as Lay Health Advisors (LHAs) to increase awareness of CRC prevention through lifestyle changes and screening within their congregational networks.
A number of approaches including telephone interviews, post intervention focus groups, daily log documentation, and participant observations were used to capture the roles and activities of the LHAs in CRC awareness and prevention. Data analysis with NvivoTM revealed the LHAs shared information with family (100%), their co-workers (83%), church members (96%), and others in the community (67%). Focus group discussions revealed that LHA churches continue to promote CRC prevention behaviors and/or have adopted other health concerns. LHAs organized three church-wide activities focused on the health behaviors targeted in the study. All LHAs interviewed reported sharing general health information in addition to the targeted study behaviors. African American church members in the study believe that using LHAs is an effective way to involve congregations in health issues and to create sustainable health promotion programs.
Learning Objectives: Learning Objectives
Keywords: African American, Faith Community
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.