Centering wellness: The promotion of a community-based, healthy lifestyles support group program

3rd year PhD Student. Centering Wellness, a biweekly community based support group, focuses on healthy lifestyle promotion (nutrition education and physical activity). It was created to meet the needs of residents of a community in Chicago, Illinois that is predominantly, low income African American with high rates of chronic disease. As a public health nurse I have been working in this community for four years to determine the assets and obstacles to increasing fitness and healthy eating. Focus groups and interviews with Austin residents revealed that key facilitators to healthier lives include: access to fitness facility and healthy food, fitness coaches, tasting healthy food, and most importantly, having people they could talk to about weight loss. The support group covers these topics and activities: daily barriers and benefits to exercising and healthy eating, perceptions of healthy eating, improving friends and family's health, cooking demonstrations, healthier fast food alternatives, eating on the go, healthy eating on a budget, grocery shopping tour, and the relationship between improper nutrition and physical fitness and cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Participation rates have continued to increase. Participants have reported decreases in HbA1c, blood pressure, weight loss, improved self esteem, positive impact on family and friends and overall satisfaction with the progress made. There is a need for innovative programs at the community level. When the community can easily access resources and build upon the strengths within themselves and their community, they are more likely to have healthier lifestyles and thus improve their health outcomes.