Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Marci Campbell, PhD, MPH¹, Ken Resnicow, PhD², Carol Carr, MA¹, M. Hudson, MPH¹, T. Wang, MSPH³, and Alexis Williams, MPH⁴. (1) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box 7461, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, (919) 966-7230, marci_campbell@unc.edu, (2) School of Public Health - Health Behavior & Health Education, University of Michigan, 1420 Washington Heights (SPH2), Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, (3) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mail Stop E-48, Atlanta, GA 30333, (4) Office of Education and Special Initiatives, National Cancer Institute, 6116 Executive Blvd., Suite 202, Bethesda, MD 20892-8334

Purpose: Body & Soul is an evidence-based fruit and vegetable (F&V) intervention designed for dissemination among African American churches. It includes pastor support, church events, self-help materials, and peer counseling. The purpose of the two research studies reported here is to 1) identify factors contributing to program effectiveness and 2) study dissemination among churches adopting Body & Soul.

Methods: The evaluation is based on the RE-AIM model and includes churches from various U.S. regions. Study 1 evaluated Body & Soul among churches recruited by and receiving technical assistance from the American Cancer Society, and Study 2 assesses dissemination among churches requesting materials from NCI and implementing the program on their own. Data from participant surveys, qualitative interviews, and site visits assess F&V consumption, related psychosocial factors, reach, adoption, implementation, and maintenance.

Results: In Study 1, 864 participants from 15 churches (8 intervention, 7 comparison) completed surveys and 43 peer counselors and coordinators completed interviews. In Study 2, 12 churches are currently enrolled with a target of 16 churches (1000-1200 participants) completing the study. Study 1 demonstrated significant increases in F&V, and attendance at project events and receiving self-help materials were associated with improvements (p<.05) in F V and fat intakes. Higher ratings of the the peer counseling calls (e.g. more listening, not judging)also predicted change. Process interviews indicated program maintenance but revealed additional needs. We will compare the results of Study 2 to the Study 1 findings.

Conclusions: Body & Soul can inform policy and practice in moving dietary interventions to population-wide dissemination and implementation.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this presentation the attendees will be able to

• Describe the methods used to study dissemination and implementation of Body & Soul
• Discuss the utility of the RE-AIM framework to evaluate dissemination
• Describe the results and apply them to improving the dissemination of the program.

Keywords: African American, Community-Based Health Promotion

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation