The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

4307.0: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 - 4:30 PM

Abstract #63268

Addressing CVD disparity among African Americans through Lookin' Tight Livin' Right

Corliss McKeever, MSW, African American Health Coaltion, Inc., 2800 North Vancouver, Suite 100, Portland, OR 97227, 503 413 1850, corlissm@aahc-portland.org

This oral presentation will report findings from a community-based cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention program called “Lookin’ Tight, Livin’ Right (LTLR)”. This project is one of several community-based demonstration grants targeting health disparities awarded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of their REACH 2010 project. In Oregon, African Americans are 1.5 times as likely to die of a heart attack and 2 times as likely to die from stroke as their Caucasian counter-parts. LTLR is one of four distinct intervention strategies developed in collaboration with consortium and community members to address the CVD health gap. LTLR is a peer-to-peer education program utilizing existing relationships between beauty/barbershop operators and their clients to deliver an intervention that targets increased physical activity, smoking cessation and increased use of preventive clinical services among their clients. To date, ten operators have been trained in CVD prevention, motivational interviewing, and stages of change theory and are currently enrolling clients. Preliminary evaluation data indicate that the program is reaching individuals at risk of CVD. For example, respondents (N=102) reported high blood pressure 37%, high cholesterol 18%, and obesity 31%. Nearly 7% reported one previous heart attack and 8% had angina; however 19% had no routine medical checkups in the last year. The oral presentation will report: 1) steps in developing the curriculum, 2) implementation of LTLR including recruitment and training of operators, 3) pre- and post intervention changes among clients, and 4)basic components to develop culturally appropriate methodology.

Learning Objectives:

Keywords: Ethnic Minorities, Chronic (CVD)

Related Web page: www.aahc-portland.org

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.

Intervening at the Local Level

The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA