 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Hector Balcazar, MS, PhD, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health, Health Science Center, University of North Texas, School of Public Health, Health Science Center, University of North Texas, 3500 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX 76107-2699, 817-735-5430, hbalcaza@hsc.unt.edu, Matilde Alvarado, RN, MSN, NIH, Office od Prevention, Education, and Control. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute., 31 Center Drive, MSC 2480, Building 31, Room 4A-16, Bethesda, MD 20892-2480, Mary Luna Hollen, PhD, RD, LD, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences., School of Public Health. University of North Texas, Health Science Center., 3500 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Forth Worth, TX 76107-2699, and Margarita P Hurtado, PhD, MHS, American Institutes for Research, 1000 Thomas Jefferson St. NW, Washington, DC 20007.
In this presentation we report the results of two community outreach models of the Salud Para Su Corazón (SPSC) (Health For Your Heart) National Dissemination Initiative using lay health educators. The North Texas NTSPSC, Enhanced Dissemination and Utilization Center in Fort Worth Texas, is using a quasi-experimental 6-month family program to test the effects of the promotora intervention. The other model of SPSC was delivered in 7 Latino communities in different states of the nation and used a pre-post 6-month type family intervention design. Both models applied the train-the-trainer model to deliver a variant of a 6-month family heart health education to make lifestyle changes. Data for this presentation comes from two sources: from the 7 Latino communities with an overall sample of 223 Latino families, and from the preliminary results of approximately 42 families from the comprehensive intervention group of the NTSPSC initiative. Self-reported practices of specific behaviors to reduce risk factors for heart disease were used as the outcome variables for both programs. The questionnaire for these self-reported practices was found to be reliable using the Cronbach's Alpha test. Findings from paired t-tests demonstrated that for both programs there was a statistically significant increase (p<0.05) in the average sum scores and for each one of the heart healthy areas surveyed (e.g. salt and sodium, cholesterol, fat, physical activity, etc). Preliminary results of these evaluations indicate that the lay health educators' programs of SPSC have a positive effect in helping Latino families make heart healthy behavior changes to improve their overall health.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Community Outreach, Chronic Diseases
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.