Walk Your Heart to Health: Examining the role of group cohesion in a community-based walking group program

This presentation examines the role of group cohesion in the participation of adults in Walk Your Heart to Health (WYHH), an 8-month walking group program that is facilitated by community health promoters. WYHH is part of a multi-level community-based participatory research (CBPR) intervention project carried out by the Healthy Environments Partnership to promote cardiovascular health in three geographically distinct low-to-moderate income, predominantly African American and Hispanic communities in Detroit where heart disease mortality rates are substantially higher than Michigan and national rates. Community health promoters are paid, half-time staff who live in one of the three communities in which walking groups are held. The conceptual framework that guided the development and evaluation of WYHH was informed by a CBPR process that engaged community members, and by a review of the literature in which group cohesion has been shown to be particularly important in promoting sustainability of physical activity interventions among adults. WYHH participants' reports of group cohesion were measured at weeks 4 and 8 using a closed-ended questionnaire. Attendance records were used to assess participation. We will present descriptive results and analyses examining relationships between group cohesion and participation among the first cohort of walking group participants (n=132) and between the three geographically distinct communities. We will discuss lessons learned and implications of our findings for curricula used to train community health promoters to lead walking groups and for other CBPR efforts to promote health equity in urban communities through group-based CBPR public health initiatives.