249293 HEART Project: Promoting Hispanic heart health through lifestyle and environmental change in El Paso, Texas

Monday, October 31, 2011: 9:10 AM

Sherrie Wise, MPH , El Paso Regional Campus, UT Health Science Center Houston, School of Public Health, El Paso, TX
Hector Balcazar, MS, PhD , El Paso, Regional Campus, UT Health Science Center-School of Public Health, EL Paso, TX
Alisha Hayden, MPH , Doctor of Public Health Program, University of Texas School of Public Health, El Paso, TX
E. Lee Rosenthal, PhD , Department of Health Promotion-College of Health Science, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX
María Duarte-Gardea, PhD, RD , Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX
The HEART Project is an eight-year NIH-funded community-based participatory research (CBPR) project which utilizes an ecological and lifestyle change approach to reduce CVD risk among Hispanics in El Paso, Texas. The intervention curriculum, called Mi Corazon, Mi Comunidad (My Heart My Community) focuses on two key arenas of heart health: 1) participant lifestyle, and 2) influences in the participant's environment – their community. For each arena, an additional focus is placed on physical fitness and nutrition. Minimum expectations for participation in the four-month intervention were developed which recommend completion of a minimum number of intervention activity sessions. These include sixteen exercise classes, four community health worker-led heart health classes, four support groups and supplemental nutrition sessions, including heart-healthy cooking classes and grocery store tours. Participant clinical measures were taken at baseline and follow-up, in addition to a questionnaire evaluating health knowledge, beliefs, intentions, and physical activity and dietary behaviors. Participant adherence to the minimum expectations for participation in each of the lifestyle or environment focused activities will be highlighted alongside observed changes in select determinants and clinical measures.

Learning Areas:
Chronic disease management and prevention
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Public health or related education
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
To describe the minimum expectations for participation in a CVD risk reduction intervention and related changes in select determinants and clinical measures among participants

Keywords: Community Health Promoters, Heart Disease

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the research team for the project being presented.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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