Seeds of Wellness: A culturally-relevant wellness intervention for urban American Indian families

This presentation will review the preliminary results of a health promotion intervention for urban American Indian families that was developed through a community-based participatory process. The intervention was funded by the NIH National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities and was collaboration between the Tucson Indian Center and the University of Arizona Zuckerman College of Public Health. This program was a culturally based wellness intervention that highlighted increasing knowledge and family communication about physical activity and healthy nutrition. Over the course of one year, 66 adults and 47 youth participated in the intervention that used interactive family activities and artistic expression as primary modalities. Results indicate a significant increase from baseline to 3-month post intervention follow-up in the frequency of adults tracking the amount of exercise their youth were getting and tracking the amount of high fat foods youth were eating. There was also a significant increase in the frequency of adults praising the youth in their families for being physically active. In addition, there was a significant increase in self-efficacy regarding physical activity and adult female participants increased in their readiness to engage in physical activity. These results suggest that this seven-session culturally focused family wellness intervention increases positive family communication among urban American Indians, especially regarding nutrition and physical activity. This presentation will include a review of the community-developed, culturally relevant seven-session curriculum and a video will be shown that describes the program and shows some of the activities participants were involved in during the sessions.