Building science translation in a community environment for heart health promotion: The El Paso community health worker HEART border project

The HEART project in El Paso, Texas is a community-based participatory research (CBPR) facilitated by community health workers (promotores de salud) that has been in the community for close to 6 years delivering a variety of health promotion strategies. These strategies have utilized several conceptual frameworks and research designs to build CVD risk reduction opportunities for underserved and underinsured Hispanic/Mexican-origin populations. In this presentation, we describe several key features of the HEART project including: 1) results of HEART phase 1 for testing a conceptual framework applied to the border environment using structural equation modeling, in which influences where established beyond the individual by examining a series of contextual factors, social resources and psychosocial responses based on a randomized control trial (RCT); 2) results of a meditational analysis to examine the usefulness of the Health Belief Model in mediating heart healthy self-reported responses of nutrition behaviors with the same RCT design; 3) comparative results of a baseline evaluation utilizing a control community not participating in HEART phase 2, and finally, a response to translation by examining how HEART Phase 2 participants are reducing their risk factors by engaging in a 4-month environmental and behavioral restructuring intervention of nutrition and physical activity behaviors. The results of the different strategies highlighted under both phases of HEART, demonstrate how a variety of research strategies can yield valuable insights related to how risk reduction of CVD can be initiated among Hispanic/Mexican origin border communities that are engaged in research translation within a CBPR approach.